The horn and sinew (the materials which really form the bow and give it its power and elasticity) may be likened to a tube, the small centre of which is filled with wood. (Sections, fig. 2, opposite page.) [Page 105] [Illustration: FIG. 2.--SECTIONS OF A TURKISH BOW Half full size.] I. Section of bow at 6 in. from one of its ends. II. Section of bow at half-way between the centre of its handle and one of its ends. III. Section of bow at the centre of its handle, which is here thickly covered with sinew. IV. Longitudinal section of bow at half-way between the centre of its handle and one of its ends. _Light shading_, AAAA. The compressed sinew forming the back of the bow when it is strung. _Dark shading_, BBBB. The horn forming the inner surface of the bow when it is strung. _Lined centres._ The thin lath of wood to which the horn and sinew parts of the bow are moulded and fixed. The thin wooden lath, in places only ⅛ in. thick, bestowed no strength on the bow, as it was merely its heart or core to which the two curved strips of horn and the long band of sinew were glued. (Fig. 3, p. 106.) As it would have been very difficult and tedious to shape so fragile a lath in one length to suit the outline of the finished bow, this lath was always made in three pieces, which were fitted together at their joints and then secured with glue. (Fig. 3.) The middle piece formed the core of the handle of the bow and the other pieces the core of its limbs. (Fig. 3.) The extremities of the two outer pieces of the core were enlarged to form the strong projecting points of the bow in which the nocks for the bow-string were cut. (CC fig. 3.) [Page 106] [Illustration: FIG. 3.--LONGITUDINAL PLANS OF THE PARTS OF A TURKISH BOW.] AAA. The three pieces of thin wood that formed the core of the bow. Surface view. (The two outer lengths of the core were steamed into a curve as shown in CCC.) BBB. The pieces glued together. Surface view. CCC. The pieces glued together. Side view. DDD. The strip of sinew that was glued to the core, and which formed the back or outer surface of the bow when it was reversed and strung. EE. The two strips of naturally curved horn that were glued to the core, and which formed the belly or inner surface of the bow when it was reversed and strung. PART II _THE BOW-STRING_ The main part of the bow-string was composed of a skein of about sixty lengths of strong silk and was ingeniously knotted at each of its ends to a separate loop, formed of hard and closely twisted sinew. A loop and its knot is shown in fig. 4, opposite page.