_The Serpentin, Matchlock, or Arquebus._--An improvement was made about the year 1500, whereby the slow match, hitherto held in the hand, was affixed to a lever bent into the form of a serpent and fastened by the centre to the stock on a pivot; by pulling the lower portion the upper end carrying the match was made to descend upon the priming powder. Subsequent innovations consisted of a sliding cover over the flash-pan, and the jointing of the serpentin to increase the leverage. The matchlock was in use for about two centuries, in spite of the cumbersome nature of the weapon, the slow rate of its discharge, the trouble involved in keeping the match alight during boisterous or rainy weather, and the heavy rest for holding it when loading and taking aim. The greatest merit was undoubtedly its simplicity and cheapness. The arquebus shown in Plate XXVII., p. 322, is of the sixteenth century, time of James VI., and is in the Edinburgh Museum. The figure of an arquebusier may be discerned in Plate VIII., p. 64, under the horse’s head of the Bayard figure. The arquebus is seen poised upon its rest with a piece of loose tow hanging from the barrel; the arquebusier is in the act of taking aim, and is accoutred in seventeenth century military dress. In Plate XXXIX. a wall arquebus is shown from the Rotunda, which is nearly 9 feet in length and weighs 87 lbs. It is fitted with a tube sight and an arrangement for pivoting in an iron socket upon a wall or in an embrasure. Its calibre is 1.3 inches. These pieces were at times carried into the field and required three men to manipulate them. _The Wheel-lock._--The great difficulty experienced in keeping the match alight resulted in the invention of the wheel-lock in the earlier part of the sixteenth century at Nuremberg, and its introduction into England about 1540. The mechanism consisted of a wheel serrated at the edge which protruded into the priming pan, and was fixed by its axle to the lock plate (Plate XLI.). This axle was made square upon the outside for a key, while at the other end a strong spring engaged with it; by winding it the spring was compressed and held in place by a catch. The lock held a piece of pyrites, and when it was depressed rested in the priming pan, which had a removable cover; upon the trigger being pulled the spring caused the wheel to revolve quickly, whereby its file-like edges struck sparks of fire from the pyrites with which it was in contact and thus ignited the powder. For the cavalry and also for sporting purposes the wheel-lock was in use for many years, but its cost precluded a general introduction among the infantry. A high degree of ornamentation was lavished upon many of these weapons; examples may be readily found in all museums of importance.