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Oriental Bows - The Thumb
Ring
projecting lip of the ring bestowed the leverage which enabled the archer
to draw the bow-string of a powerful bow.
Thumb-rings of silver or of agate were often permanently worn by Turkish
archers of position, both for ornament and for use.
These rings were finely polished and frequently inlaid with gold.
The Turkish Thumb Ring and Its Manipulation
Fig. 10. The position of the hand when the arrow is first fitted to
the bow-string, the latter being hitched behind the lip of the thumb-ring.
The nock of the arrow should be close against the lip of the ring, and
hence within about an eighth of an inch of the angle formed in the bow-string
when it is fully drawn, as shown in fig. 12.
Fig. 11. View of the thumb, with the ring, A, in position preparatory
to closing the forefinger and thumb.
[B. Section of the bowstring as hitched behind the projecting lip of
the ring.
C. The base of the forefinger, or the part of it which presses tightly
over the sloping surface of the lip of the ring, in front of the bow-string,
when the bow is being bent.] |
