These loops could not fray or cut, as would occur if they were made of silk, and they fit into the nocks of the bow. The loops rest, when the bow is strung, upon small ivory bridges (fig. 1, p. 102) which are hollowed out to receive them, and which, in this way, retain the bow-string in its place. Though these little bridges are not always present on Turkish bows, they are invariably to be found on those of Persian, Indian or Chinese construction, their greater length requiring the assistance of bridges to keep their bow-strings in a correct position. [Page 107] [Illustration: FIG. 4.--ONE OF THE LOOPS OF HARD AND CLOSELY TWISTED SINEW WHICH ARE KNOTTED TO EACH END OF THE MIDDLE PART OR SKEIN OF A TURKISH BOW-STRING. Scale: Half full size.] I. A loop and its knot as first formed on one end of the skein of the bow-string. II. The loop drawn up, but not tightened. III. The loop drawn up tight and its loose ends secured. As shown in III, the projecting ends of the length of sinew which forms the loop are cut off to within a third of an inch of the knot. They are singed at their extremities, so as to form small burrs which prevent the short length of strong silk, which lashes them together, from slipping off. The ends of this last small lashing are placed beneath the wrapping of silk to be seen on the skein near the knot in III. In this way the knot of the loop is rigidly secured against any chance of drawing when the bow is in use. (The bow-strings of all Oriental bows, with the exception of the Tartar and Chinese, were made as above described.) PART III _THE ARROW_ Length of arrow, 25½ in. to 25¾ in. Weight of arrow, avoirdupois, 7 drs., or equal to the weight of two shillings and a sixpence. The balance of the arrow is at 12 in. from the end of its nock. [Page 108] Shape of arrow, ‘barrelled,’ and much tapered from its balancing-point to its ends: its sharp ivory point being only ⅛ in. in diameter (where it is fitted to the shaft) and ¼ in. in length. The part of the shaft to which the feathers are attached is 3/16 in. in diameter, and the centre of the shaft 5/16 in. Though I have carefully measured and weighed about two hundred eighteenth-century Turkish flight arrows, I have scarce found a half-dozen that were ⅛ in. more or less than from 25½ in. to 25¾ in. in length, or that varied by even as little as ½ dr. from 7 dr. in weight. In regard to their balancing-point these arrows are equally exact, as this part is invariably from 11½ in. to 12½ in. from the nock. It is evident that the old Turkish flight arrow was accurately made to a standard pattern that experience showed was the most successful one for long-distance shooting. The light and elegantly shaped wooden nock of an old Turkish arrow (fig. 5) is quite unlike the clumsy horn nock of the modern European one.