A summary of the history, construction and effects in warfare of the projectile-throwing engines of the ancients, with a treatise on the structure, power and management of Turkish and other Oriental bows of mediæval and later times

by Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey

Thickness of each arm, at a distance of 6 in. from the centre of the handle of the bow, ½ in.[43]

[43] In the very powerful bows, such as the one shown in [Fig. 15], p. 121, the thickness at these parts is from ⅝ to ¾ in.

Circumference of each arm, at a distance of 6 in. from the centre of the handle of the bow, 3 in.

(The arms of the Persian, Indian, and Chinese composite bows have a width of from 1½ to 2 in.; and though the span of these bows, when strung, is from 4 to 5 ft. and more, they do not shoot a light arrow nearly so far as the shorter, narrower, and in proportion far stronger and more elastic Turkish ones.)

The strength of the bow, or the weight that would be required on the centre of the bow-string to pull it down from the bow to the full length of the arrow, is 118 lbs. (This is without taking into account the additional two or three inches the point of the arrow should be drawn within the bow along the horn groove.)

Weight of bow, avoirdupois, 12½ oz.

Though I have carefully examined over fifty of these small Turkish bows, I have never seen one that exceeded 1¼ in. in width at its widest part, or if measured with a tape along its outer curve, when unstrung (AAAAA, [fig. 1]), was over 3 ft. 10 in. in length. Bows that are 4 or 5 in. longer than the dimensions here given are invariably of Persian or Indian manufacture, and are very inferior in the elasticity that is requisite for long-distance shooting, though in decoration and construction they often closely resemble Turkish bows.

The bow is chiefly constructed of very flexible horn and sinew. These materials were softened by heat and water and then longitudinally glued to a slight lath of wood varying from ⅛ to ¼ in. in thickness (except where it formed the handle of the bow), and from ½ to 1 in. in width.

This strip of wood formed the core or mould of the bow, and extended at each of its ends for 3 in. beyond the strips of horn and sinew that were fixed on its opposite sides, and which slightly overlapped it. ([Fig. 2], p. 105.) The projecting ends of the wooden strip were enlarged so as to form the solid extremities of the bow in which the nocks for the bow-string were cut. (CC [fig. 3], p. 106.)

The two curved horn strips, which in part comprised the arms of the bow (on its inside face when it was bent), were cut from the horn of a buffalo or an antelope, and average about ¼ in. in thickness.