ANALYTIC ORTHOGRAPHY. 329 
fowling-piece, and blunder-bus, a blundering perversion of ‘donderbus,’ as if thunder tube— 
all of them being used heteronymically, i. e., by transfer of idea as in sparrow-grass for 
the older sparagus. 
Originally applied to the cross-bow, these names were extended to portable fire-arms 
when these came into use, the general appearance being the same. In some cross-bows, 
as in the first muskets, the stock was straight, and held on the breast in shooting. Those 
with a crooked stock were associated with hook by the Germans, who invented this form. 
“ Arquebuse Fr. from arquer to make crooked, and the Teutonic bus a pipe, a gun, Kc. 
Hence the word means a hook gun.”— Webster. 
“ Arquebuse, Sp. arcubuz, composed of arco, an arc or bow; and busio, which signifies 
hole in Italian. (Menage.) But the etymology of busio is unsettled.”—Richardson. For 
Hackbut, Richardson quotes Lodge thus—“ from haque, a term of unknown derivation, and 
buter, Fr. to aim at.” 
The ancients had various engines for casting missiles, named BALISTAE, (from (é//a, I 
throw,) some of which were on the principle of the cross-bow. We find also the ancient 
term arcibalista (or with /,) which, with the aid of otosis, elision, and heteronymy, 
arising out of the varying use and changing shape of the weapon, will account for all the 
forms cited. Poitevin assigns the Fr. arbaléte to the Greek intensive @, and (d/o. 
Graff assigns ‘armbrust’ to ARCUBALISTA, but also suggests arrow for arm-. 
The elision of cw and eduction of m from 6 of the original, made the heteronymic arm 
of ‘armbrust’ (a word which is in Trench,) and the mutation of 7 to 7 accompanied balist, 
Plist in suggesting brust, or its dialectic form in the Nordish ‘armbrysti.’ By these means 
the bow became an arm, and a ‘thrower’ a breast; whilst a pistol-shaped, gun-shaped, or 
crooked handle, required that an ‘arc’ in one language should be considered a hook in - 
another. 
ARCU-BALISTA 
Agate at mes wamell new Shast 
@ TP oa do IM) co PWS 
fb) YP co woul @O ico SG 
BR @ WO Wooo Wot 
a r g ue b.. us 
A eaoC) need ID: tate wan Uy ater bins 
INE) og GE I) 60 co We Mao. 
1) do so HS 
1D co 0 HOG co © 
326. Pistol, Bohemian root BA, whence the infinitive ba-ti, to speak; peti, to sing; 
beseda, discourse (fatka, a parasite;) wyr, wejr, an owl; weyt, to howl; weysk, a shout; 
