Abstract
AT the commencement of this very interesting and instructive monograph, Prof. Morse tells us that when he began collecting data illustrating the various methods of releasing the arrow from the bow, as practised by different races, he was animated merely by curiosity; nor was it until he had accumulated quite a collection of sketches and other memoranda on the methods of arrow-release, not only of existing but of ancient races, as shown by frescoes and rock-sculptures, that he realised that even so trivial an art as that of releasing the arrow might possibly lead to interesting results in tracing the affinities of races. Hence he publishes in the present pamphlet the data which he has thus far collected, in the hope that further material may be secured for a more extended memoir on the subject. The great difference which Prof. Morse observed between the ordinary English and Japanese methods of using the bow first led him to investigate the subject, with the curious results to be presently narrated. The various forms of release, with their different modifications, are classified, and perhaps Prof. Morse's investigations may be most succinctly described by using his classification.
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References
"Ancient and Modern Methods of Arrow-Release." By Edward S. Morse, Director Peabody Academy of Science. Essex Institute Bulletin October-December, 1885.
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Arrow-Release 1 . Nature 35, 12–14 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/035012a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/035012a0