5 0 ARCH 
the firing fmoothly. At firft they praftife with a weak 
bcw; and afterwards, by degrees, with thofe which are 
ftronger. The perfons, who give inftruftions in tliis art, 
direft the young pupils to (hoot with eafe and agility, in 
every direction ; before them, behind, on either Tide, ele¬ 
vated in the air, or low to the ground; in (hort, in every 
different pofiure, like the Scythians, who could ufe the 
bow in either hand with indifference. Some of their bows 
are exceedingly ftrong; and the method they make ufe of 
to know their power, is by fattening them to a fupport 
driven into a wall, and ful'pending weights to the firing at 
the point where the arrow is placed when going to (hoot. 
The ftrongeft require five hundred pounds weight, to draw 
them up to the arrow’s point!” We are told that Apollo, 
by obferving the different tones given out by the firing of 
his bow, while thus trying its power by weights, dilco- 
vered the notes of mufic, and conftrufted the monochord, 
■which he formed in the fame figure as the bow ufed by 
his fitter Diana. Such is (bill the archery of the Perfians; 
and fuch the prodigious ftrength of the bows, which to 
us, who are unaccuftomed to fee fuch efforts of human 
power, feem almoft incredible; and perhaps by fome may 
be efteemed among thole fiories of hiftory which merit 
little credit. But let us refleft a moment on the effeft of 
early habits, and training the body from infancy,, to en¬ 
dure the toils of labour and fatigue; we (hall then be in¬ 
duced to extend our conceptions of mufcular power to a 
much greater fcale than at firft fight may appear reafon- 
able. It is evident that, in the military operations of the 
prefent day, perfonal valour and bodily ftrength are by no 
means fo neceflary as formerly. The management of the 
mu(ket requires no great ftrength; but when the bow, 
fword, and javelin, were the inftruments commonly in ufe, 
a ftrong man had greatly the advantage over a weak one, 
which is not now the cafe. This was the reafon why bo¬ 
dily ftrength was efteemed and cultivated of old, among 
the foldiery. We do not, at this day, fee fo many inftan- 
ces of mufcular power, becaufe men are trained in the 
more effeminate exercifes of modern taffies, rather titan 
■the harailing fatigues of the Campus Martins. 
The Cretans, who have been highly celebrated for their 
(kill and ftrength in the management of the bow, were 
kept with the drifted care to the perpetual praftice of ar¬ 
chery ; and there is reafon to think all thofe nations and 
people who have rendered themfelves expert in this art, 
have adopted the fame mode of education. Even among 
the aborigines of America, according to Gumilla, vol. ii. 
p. 283, the boys were not fuftered to eat their viftuals till 
they had firft hit them with an arrow from a diftance. 
With relpeft to the different ways of managing the bow, 
and the feveral attitudes and poftures which have been 
praftifed in the ufe of it, much has been written. Me¬ 
thod, in fome inftances, is well known to effeft what 
greater force cannot; and there is nothing in which this 
obfervation can be exemplified more ftrongly, than in (hoot¬ 
ing the bow. Every perfon who underftands the nature 
of archery, will fee the truth of this aflertion. A fimple 
experiment will prove it, in a very fatisfaftory manner. 
Let an archer, who in (hooting has learned to draw the 
arrow to the eye or ear, draw it to his bread, and he will 
find, that the bow he in the former cafe could draw with 
eafe, will, in the latter, appear infinitely ftronger. Mr. 
Barrington fays, “ That feveral years ago there was a man 
named Topham, who exhibited moft furprifing feats of 
ftrength, and who happened to be at a public-houfe at 
Ifiington, to which the Fin (bury archers reforted after their 
exercife. Topham confidered the long-bow as a play¬ 
thing only fit for a child; upon which one of the archers 
laid him a bowl of punch, that he could not draw the ar¬ 
row two-thirds of its length. Topham accepted the bet, 
with the greateft confidence of winning; but bringing the 
arrow to his bread, inftead of his ear, he was greatly mor¬ 
tified by paying the wager, after many fruitlefs efforts. 
Notwithftanding the evident difadvantage of drawing to 
the bread, rather than the ear, yet it feems to have been 
E R Y. 
the moft general praftice in early periods. We know one 
nation is laid to have derived its name from that circum- 
ftance, viz. the Amazons, or fociety of female warriors; 
who, perhaps on this account, more than any other, have 
been fuppofed a fpurious race. But the ancient Egyp¬ 
tians, according to Herodotus, had nearly the fame man¬ 
ners ; and we need not pafs our own fliores to fee women 
engaged in all the toils and labours of agriculture, as well 
as thofe of domeftic employments, while the men remain 
idle at home. Indeed this circutnftance appears more un« 
tifual than unnatural; for, in a date of nature, the (exes 
differ but little in bodily power. It is fo with other ani¬ 
mals. The appearances in poliftied fociety will argue no¬ 
thing contrary to the fuppofition, as habits of inactivity, 
formed by the force of cuftom, exhibit the abufed, not 
the cultivated, faculties of the human frame. It is with 
equal propriety that it might be urged, the intelleftual 
faculties of the one fex are inferior to thofe of the other; 
but there are few at the prefent day who d@ not perceive, 
that it is an unjuft, though fafhionable, education, which 
enervates the mental abilities of women, and not the hand 
of nature. Strength and knowledge are in a great degree 
artificial, and to be acquired by application and exercife. 
The method of drawing the bow to the bread was con¬ 
tinued in ufe for many ages ; and it was efteemed a great 
improvement when the Roman auxiliaries were inftrufted 
to draw the right hand to the ear. We read in Procopius, 
when deferibing the archers of the Roman army, “ that 
they ride with eafe, and (hoot their arrows in every direc¬ 
tion ; to the right, the left, behind, or in the front, while 
in full fpeed; and, as they draw the bow-ftring to the 
right ear, they drive their arrows with fuch rapidity, that 
it is certain death to him on whom they fall; nor can the 
ftouteft ftiield or helmet refift the violence of the ftroke.” 
This, however, depended in a great meafure on the good- 
nefs of the bow-ftring, which conftitutes a very eflerttial 
part of the bow. 
Bow-ftrings feem originally to have been made from 
leather, or thongs cut from frefh hides taken from bulls, 
and other kinds of animals. The phrafe fioeia, is ve¬ 
ry common in Homer. Strings were alfo compofed from 
the fmews of beads, and on that account are termed nervus, 
vevgy. It was cuftomary for this purpofe, to feleft the fi- 
news of feveral of thofe kinds of animals, remarkable for 
their ftrength or aftivity ; fuch as bulls, lions, (lags, See. 
and from thofe particular parts of each animal in which 
their refpeftive ftrength was conceived to lie. From bulls, 
the finews about the back and fhoulders were collefted; 
and, from (lags, they took thofe of the legs. Catgut, 
prepared from the intettines of animals, has been made 
for the fame purpofe, and continues to be ufed at prefent 
in the eaftern countries. Many of the bow-ftrings of this 
fort are compofed of a number of fmall cords, going the 
whole length, being bound in two or three places with filk, 
to keep them clofe together. Experience has taught the 
archer, that a number of fmall cords thus accumulated in 
one, proves much ftronger than a Tingle one of the fame 
external dimenfions. Hair from the tails of horfes was 
Formerly manufactured into bow-ftrings, and appears to 
have been not an uncommon material for the purpofe. 
The word wren®*, which lignifies that fpecies of firing, 
frequently occurs in Homer, and from thence we may in¬ 
fer the antiquity of the praftice. The moft general ma¬ 
terial of which firings are now made in England is hemp; 
of which the Italian anfwers the beft ; and this fubftance 
poffefies many advantages overall other forts. Catgut is 
too much under the influence of heat and moifture to prove 
at all times of a proper tenfion; but hemp and flax have 
not this inconvenient and difadvantageous quality belong¬ 
ing to them. 
An old phrafe fays, “ It is good to have two firings to 
your bow;” and it appears to have originated from an 
ancient cuftom. A paflage in Afchanr teaches us it was 
praftifed in his day; and there is reafon to think it had a 
much earlier exiftence. “ Inwarre (fays he) if a ftringe 
breake. 
