BOU 
number of papers inserted in the Memoirs 
of the Academy. 
BOUNTY, a bounty in political econo- 
my, is a sum of money paid by the state for 
the raising or the exporting of some species 
of rude produce or manufacture. In this 
country every person who raises a certain 
quantity of flax is entitled to a bounty; and 
when corn is below a certain price, a boun- 
ty of so much per bushel is paid on its ex- 
portation. 
The intention of bounties is to encourage 
the production of those articles on which 
they are paid, by securing a profitable re- 
turn to the producer. 
The effect of a bounty on the production 
of any article is to render it cheaper in the 
home market — thus, if the fair or customary 
profit on the capital employed be 10 per 
cent., and the bounty amount to 5 per cent, 
on the capital, it is evident the grower can 
afford to sell the article 5 per cent, cheaper 
than he otherwise could. 
The effect of a bounty on the exportation 
of any article is to render it dearer in the 
home market — for by means of it the surplus 
of the home market can be removed on ea- 
sier terms than could otherwise be possible 
to the foreign market, and thus a reduction 
of price is prevented. 
But if the redundance of the home 
market could not be exported, and the 
price consequently was reduced, produc- 
tion would be discouraged, and the supply 
being more scanty, the price might be as 
high or higher than it is rendered by the 
bounty. For a more particular inquiry 
into the effects of a bounty on exportation 
see Corn Laws. 
The objection to all bounties is the fol- 
lowing : “ that every branch of trade in 
which the merchant can sell his goods for a 
price which replaces to him, with the ordi- 
nary profits of stock, the whole capital em- 
ployed in preparing and sending them to 
market, can be carried on without a boun- 
ty. Every such branch is evidently upon a 
level with all the other branches of trade 
which are carried on without bounties, and 
cannot therefore require one more than 
they. Those trades only require bounties 
in which the merchant is obliged to sell his 
goods for a price which does not replace to 
him his capital together with the ordinary 
profit, or in which he is obliged to sell 
them for less than it really costs him to 
send them to market. The bounty is given 
in order to make up this loss, and to encou- 
rage him to continue, or perhaps to begin 
BOW 
a trade, of which the expense is supposed 
to be greater than the returns, of which 
every operation eats up a part of the ca- 
pital employed in it, and which is of such a 
nature that if all other trades resembled it, 
there would soon be no capital left in the 
country. See Drawback, Premium. 
BOW, a weapon of offence made of steel, 
wood, horn, or other elastic matter, which, 
after being bent by means of a string fas- 
tened to its two ends, in returning to its na- 
tural state, throws out an arrow with prodi- 
gious force. 
The use of the bow is, without all doubt, 
of the earliest antiquity. It has likewise 
been the most universal of all weapons, 
having obtained among the most barbarous 
and remote people, who had the least com- 
munication with the rest of mankind. 
The figure of the bow is pretty much the 
same in all countries, where it has been 
used ; for it has generally two inflexions 
or bendings, between which, in the place 
where the arrow is drawn, is a right line. 
The Grecian bow was in the shape of a 2 , of 
which form we meet with many, and gene- 
rally adorned with gold or silver. The 
Scythian bow was distinguished from the 
bows of Greece and other nations by its 
incurvation, which was so great, as to form 
an half-moon or semicircle. 
The matter of which bows were made, as 
well as their size, differed in different coun- 
tries. The Persians had very great bows 
made of reeds ; and the Indians had also, 
not only arrows, but bows made of the 
reeds or canes of that country ; the Lycian 
bows were made of the cornel tree ; and 
those of the .Ethiopians, which surpassed all 
others in magnitude, were made of the 
palm-tree. 
Though it does not appear that the Ro- 
mans made use of bows in the infancy of 
their republic, yet they afterwards admitted 
them as hostile weapons, and employed 
auxiliary archers in all their wars. 
In drawing the bow, the primitive Gre- 
cians did not pull back their hand towards 
their right ear, according to the fashion 
of modern ages, and of the ancient Per- 
sians, but placing their bow directly before 
them, returned their hand upon their 
right breast. This was also the custom of 
the Amazons. 
The bow is a weapon of offence amongst 
the inhabitants of Asia, Africa, and Ameri- 
ca, at this day ; and in Europe, before the 
