OF ARROW-RELEASE. 187 



The peculiar twist given the bow by the Japanese 

 archer is, so far as I know, unique in archery practice. 

 In Siam, a bow of curious construction is used for throw- 

 ing clay balls. The ball is held in a netting, the string 

 of the bow is double, the bow-hand has the thumb braced 

 vertically against the inside of the bow, so that it may 

 not interfere with the flight of the ball. A peculiar twist 

 is given the bow, so that the ball passes free from it. 



I know of no record to show that the Japanese ever 

 used a bow of this nature ; in the Emperor's treasure- 

 house at Nara, however, is preserved a curious bow nearly 

 a thousand years old, and this is undoubtedly a bow used 

 for throwing clay or stone balls. Instead of a netting to 

 hold the ball there is a perforated leathern piece. This 

 piece is adjusted to the cord a third way down the bow, 

 at about the point from which the Japanese archer dis- 

 charges the arrow. Whether the Japanese archer ac- 

 quired this curious twirl of the bow to protect the feathers 

 from rubbing against its side, or to escape the painful im- 

 pact of the string, or, which is not improbable, acquired 

 this novel twist from using the ball-throwing bow it is 

 difficult to determine. 



In regard to the release practiced by the various tribes 

 in India, I have no information. 



Through the courtesy of the lamented James Fergus- 

 son, I was permitted to examine his large collection of 

 photographs of Indian Temples ; and in a brief examina- 

 tion of these pictures I discovered a few releases in the 

 sculptures. In the Peroor Temple near Coimbatore, an 

 eight-armed God is represented as holding upright, be- 

 tween the first and second fingers of the right hand, an 

 arrow. It is impossible to conjecture the form of release 

 in this attitude ; though, if the arrow were earned to the 

 string in this position, the Mediterranean release would 

 be suggested. 



