At a later period the cross-bow was bent by a windlass, which consisted of a bar of iron, shaped at its end into a claw, and having teeth the whole length of one edge. This slipped through an iron box, containing a wheel, the cogs of which fitted the teeth of the bar, and as a handle was fixed to the axle, on turning it the string was wound up. This apparatus was attached by a loop, which slipped over the stock, and was kept in its place by two iron pins, that projected from the side, and then, when bent, it could be easily removed. ~By steel lever.~ Another mode of bending the cross-bow was by means of a steel lever, called the goat’s-foot lever, which was moveable. This was formed of two legs, a catch and a handle, all acting on one pivot. The legs were applied to the projecting pieces of iron on each side the stock, and then the purchase was very great. ~Latch.~ ~Prodd.~ There were two principal varieties of cross-bows, viz., the “Latch,” with grooved stock, for “quarrels,” and the “Prodd,” for bullets. (Plate 14, fig. 1 and 2.) ~Dimensions and form of latch.~ ~Quarrels viretons.~ In the reign of Henry VI. the stocks of cross-bows were made of hard wood, ornamented with ivory. They were about three feet three inches long, the bow of steel, about two feet eight inches from end to end, weighing in all about fifteen pounds. The length of the groove for the quarrel about one foot four inches. The arrows discharged were called both quarrels and viretons, (plate 14, fig. 2 and 4,) some with feathers, others without. The vireton is a French name; the feathers being set on a little curved, made it spin round as it passed through the air. ~Arquebus or barrelled cross-bow.~ ~Slit in tube.~ ~Fired leaden balls.~ It is stated by Captain Panôt, that the Arquebus was in use before the invention of powder, and was but an improvement on the arbalest, or cross-bow. The Arquebus, like the cross-bow, had a stock, upon which was fixed a tube, intended to receive the projectile. This tube was split, for the passage of a cord, which was held back by a kind of sheave or pulley, which communicated motion to the projectile, on the trigger being pulled. In general, leaden balls were fired from the arquebus. The barrelled cross-bow was suggested by the “balista grossa de arganellis,” which was furnished with tubes for ejecting Greek fire. ~Repeating cross-bow.~ In the United Service Museum, Whitehall, there is a cross-bow of Cingalese manufacture. It strings itself, and discharges two arrows each time in rapid succession, until the magazine is exhausted, which contains twelve arrows, and may be replenished in a moment. ~Range in Henry V.~