ARC 
from fplitting, but at the fame time renders the bow infi¬ 
nitely more difficult to draw. 
Bows of different nations preferve a very near refem- 
blance to each other; and it is evident, from the principle 
upon which the)"aft, that this ninft always be the cafe. 
The Grecian bow is that we generally fee in the hands of 
the Grecian warriors, and rnoftly delineated in fenlpture, 
and on ancient medals. The figure of it is the mod beau¬ 
tiful and pifttirefque of any; and perhaps it is for this 
reafon we fee it fo often reprefented by painters and fculp- 
tors, who call it the bow of Apollo. It is compotd of 
three* different parts; the two end pieces, which aft as 
fprings, and a third, into which the other two are fixed. 
This third piece, being between the other, is the part by 
which the bow is held, when made life of. The fpringing 
parts are thick towards the middle, and taper front thence 
to the points where the firing is fattened. Thefe points 
■were called y.o^urn, and were often of gold, orfilvcr. The 
fprings of the bow are curved, not unlike the horns of 
fome of the Eafi-Indian goats; and, as we read that the 
horns of animals were fometimes ufed for thefe- parts of 
the bow, perhaps the natural figure gave a model for the 
bows which were not made of horn. Another fpecies of 
this weapon is made of one regular curve, having no re¬ 
paration in the middle. We do not fee this kind often re¬ 
prefented in the tablets of antiquity, although of the molt 
natural figure, and of the mod fiinple conftruftion. The 
bows which are at prefent in ufe, and which formerly were 
ufed in England, are of this fort. Bows on both thefe 
principles are ufed in favage nations, but the latter is the 
more common. The mufeums, and many private collec¬ 
tions, contain bows of each fort, which were brought to 
this country by the navigators who have vifited the Pacific 
Ocean, and the remoter parts of Atia and America. The 
infiruments of this kind made by the inhabitants of Alia, 
very much refemble thofe of America, and are often of 
the fame materials. 
The Grecian bow is fatd to have been firft made in the 
form of the Sigma in their alphabet. The bow ufed by 
the Scythians will pafs under the fame charafter. And, as 
the praftice of archery was introduced from Scythia into 
Greece, the bows of each, perhaps, were not very diffe¬ 
rent. The Scythian bow is called crooked, becaufe it was 
fo in a greater degree than the bows of other countries. 
This incurvation is faid to be fo remarkable as to repre- 
fent a crefcent, or halt-moon. Hence the (hepherd in A- 
thenaeus, fays Potter, being to defcribe the letters in the 
name of Thefeus, and expreffing each of them by fome 
appofite refemblance, compares the third to the Scythian 
bow, meaning not the more modem charafter £, but the 
ancient C, and hears the third place in @HcEYc. The 
figure of a modern Tartar bow, will, perhaps, enable us 
to point out what is meant by this peculiar incurvation. 
The figure alluded to is drawn in the Archery-Plate I, 
fig. 5, which exhibits the appearance of an unfirung Tar¬ 
tar bow. This has a remarkable incurvation backwards, 
and is extremely different from any other fpecies of bow. 
The ends, which in this reprefentation are inflefted, are 
drawn on the oppofite fide, when ffrung ; and in that cafe 
the bow does not appear very different from others. This 
curve backwards,is the circumftance which charafterifed 
the ancient Scythian bow. Hence we may conclude, that, 
when authors fpeak of the peculiarity belonging to this 
weapon, it is to be underftood of its figure when unfirung, 
and not its form as feen in the hand of one (hooting. 
The bows ufed by the Daci, a people formerly inhabi¬ 
ting Tranfylvania, and with whom the Romans had fre¬ 
quent contefts, were made in a very beautiful curve, and 
ornamented at one end with the head of a fwan, and at 
the other with that of a dragon; becaufe thefe figures 
were the common enfigns ufed by that people in battle. 
There is a view of one of thefe Dacian weapons in the 
hand of a warrior, piftured among a contending group 
in Montfaucon. The lower part of the bow is hidden by 
the interpofition of another figure, but the upper end 
Vol. II. No. 57. 
H E R Y. 49 
difiiuft, and the (wan’s head clearly vifible upon it. The- 
Saxons feem to have been in the praftice of ornamenting 
one end of their bows in a liniilar manner. 
The form of the Roman bow is given by Spon and 
Montfaucon, in an excellent fiatue of a mafter of archery. 
The figure is reprefented without clothing to the waifit, 
and reding the right hand on the upper end of the bow ; 
the lower end of which is 00 the ground. The bow, 
however, is a figure feldom to be feen among the arms and 
trophies (truck on Roman medals. The reafon is, per¬ 
haps, that it was efteemed unworthy a place among the 
proper military weapons, becaufe not ufed by the regular 
troops. ld\\Q/agiUani and fvnditores were auxiliary men, 
and were not held in high efiimution by the legions. The 
Roman veteran, inflamed with the zeal of fignalizing him- 
felf by afts of perlonal bravery, diliJained the diftant en¬ 
counter; but, like the Britifli tailor, referved himfelf for 
clofer combat, where lie (truck with unerring aim, and 
wlrere his attack was irrdiliable. This being the fchoot 
wherein the Roman delighted to Trudy, he viewed the fci- 
ence of archery with contempt. 
The Amazonian bow does not appear to have any very 
particular charafter different from the other bows of three 
rieces ; in general it appears of ftronger make ; but per- 
taps this may be a compliment to thofe ladies from the 
l'culptors. The modern Englilh long-bow is well known, 
and is better underftood from a figure than a deferi prion. 
The only difference in thofe formerly in ufe, and what 
are at prefent made is, that the ancient ones were fome¬ 
times of a (ingle piece, but the mqde'rn ones have a thin 
piece of a(b joined, as above deferibed. In the middle 
there is a binding, to enable the (hooter to hold the infiru- 
ment fteady, and at the fame time to prevent the hand 
being hurt; our old archers had no fuch defence, but held- 
their bow well befmeared with wax, in order to fix it 
firm in the hand. 
Bows, if we believe hiftorians and fculptors, were much 
ffronger formerly, in fome countries, than they are made 
at prefent. The figures of thefe infiruments on ancient 
fragments, are always much ffiorter than we imagine they 
ought to be. Some are fcarcelv longer than a man’s arm, 
and very few exceed that meafure in any great degree. 
But the thickriefs of them is proportionally greater. We 
find, however, there were people who ufed bows as long 
as thofe made in England. Arrian (ays, the Indian in¬ 
fantry held bows whofe length was equal to the height of 
him who bore it; and this llandard feenrs to have been 
approved by other nations. The Irifii ftatute of Edw. IV. 
fays, “ That the bow (hall not exceed the hejght of a 
man ; and that the arrow (hall be half the length of the 
bow.” The Carducian bow was three cubits long, the 
arrows two; the cubit being about a foot and a half of 
our meafure. Herodotus fays, the bow ufed by the Ethio¬ 
pians was of palm-tree, not lefs than four cubits; and 
they (hot with extremely-long arrows. We cannot form 
any exaft conjefture on the degree of power thefe infiru¬ 
ments poffeffed, as the length of a bow has no influence 
in increaftng the (Length; rather the contrary. We mull 
however conclude they were of prodigious force, (ince the 
account of Xenophon, whole foldiers felt the arrows of 
the Carducians during the retreat of the ten thoufand 
Greeks, correfponds with this opinion. He fays, “ Here 
fell a brave man, Cleonymus, a Lacedemonian, who was 
wounded in the (ide by an arrow, that made its way both 
through his fliield and his buff' coat.” Again : “ Here 
fell Ba(ia$,an Arcadian, whofe head was quite (hot through 
by an arrow.” This firong (hooting continued among the 
defeendants of the Carducians till the time of M. Craffus, 
whofe foldiers, Plutarch fays, were (laughtered by their ar¬ 
rows in vaft numbers, as no part of their armour could 
withftand the force of them. 
Chardin reprefents the praftice of archery in Perfia, at 
the time he refided there, as follows: “ The young Per- 
fians (fays he) learn to lhoot with the bow; the art of 
•which confifts in holding it firm, drawing and letting go 
O the 
