Gold, 9; red, 7; blue, 5; black, 3; white, I. an arrow 7. In case cuts two colors, it shall count as having hit the inner one. 8. All disputes shall be referred for decision to the Captain of the target where they arise. 9. Every archer shall shoot with arrows bearing his mark, and every arrow leaving the bow shall be deemed as having been shot, unless the archer can reach it with his bow while standing inside the line from which he is shooting. 10. No person, unless competing for prizes, shall be allowed within the bounds of the Archers' grounds during the progress of the shooting. Cross-Bow. The ancient crossbow is described below, under History. The modern toy is a bow fixed on a gun-stock, and fired by a trigger like that in the illustration. The bow-string, when drawn, is hooked over the trigger and the arrow is placed in a groove. The trigger, which turns on a pivot, is held at the bottom by an elastic band, which keeps it in position. will carry about 50 feet. In firing shot, fit the gun with a tin barrel made of a blow-gun tube. A stick fitting loosely in it has the bowstring passed through a hole in its rear end. The spring may also be arranged as shown in the illustration on page 21. The stick must be so long that when the bow is bent the end does not pull out of the tube. Elastic Cross-bow.-This bow is made of a stiff piece of wood, as it is not intended to bend. Its convex side is toward the shooter. The string is made of strong india-rubber cord whose elasticity sends the arrow or bolt. History.-The bow and arrow were in use all over the world in times so ancient that we have no record of them. This is proved from arrow-heads dug up in many places; and from other things found with them we know that they were made long before men were acquainted with the use of metals, in the Stone Age, so called because all weapons and tools were then made of stone. These ancient arrow-heads, sometimes six inches in length by two in breadth, were used both in war and in hunting enormous wild animals now extinct. The earliest records we have tell of skilled archers among the Asiatic nations and the Egyptians; and the first explorers of the American continent found the natives expert in the use of the bow. Among the best archers of antiquity were the Persians, Parthians, Numidians, and Cretans. The archers in the Persian army were so numerous and let fly The arrows shot by a cross-bow such clouds of arrows that a Persian are properly called bolts, and are once boasted to a Greek that they shorter than those shot from a long-would darken the sun at mid-day. bow. Pieces of wood three or four inches long, loaded at the head by driving in a nail, make good bolts. Cross-bow. A small cross-bow, often called a watch-spring gun, can be made by using a piece of watch-spring for a bow. The spring should be about six inches long. Little arrows, or shot, may be used in such a gun, which The Greeks and Romans employed foreign archers. The poet Virgil describes an archery match where a bird tied to a mast was the target. One marksman cut the string with his arrow, and as the bird flew away another killed it. Archery was practiced in England from the earliest times, but the Sax became the most famous in the world, and did much toward making their country great and powerful. The kings of England were so anxious that skill in archery should not decline, that they frequently discouraged and even forbade other amusements and exercises. The price of bows was regulated by law. In the absurdity. Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII., was a fine shot with the bow, and from him good marksmen were frequently called Arthur. Henry VIII., while attending an archery meeting, was so pleased with the shooting of a Londoner named Barlow, who lived at Shoreditch, that he gave him in jest the title of "Duke of Shoreditch," and the captain of Saxon Bow and Arrow. the London archers was long known | day. In 1844 there was a great reby this name. In 1583, at a grand vival of the sport in England, and shooting match, the "Duke," with a there are now in that country more retinue of mock marquises and earls, than eighty large clubs, some of and a throng of about 7000 followers, all quaintly dressed, paraded in London. The cross-bow or arbalast, which came into use about the 11th century, was more in vogue on the continent of Europe than the long-bow; but in England the archers disliked the new weapon, because it took less skill, and laws were passed against it. It consisted of a short bow fixed at the end of a stock somewhat like a gun-stock, on the top of which was a barrel slit so as to let the string be pulled back until caught by the trigger. When the trigger was pulled, the string was released and springing through the slit drove the arrow out of the barrel. The best arbalasts had steel bows, and required the aid of a crank to draw them. They shot short arrows, called bolts or quarrels, so swiftly and with such force that they often pierced heavy armor. The crossbow was the most deadly weapon in the world before the invention of fire-arms. The use of the bow survived long after that event, but when the improvement of musketry caused the bow to be given up as a weapon, archery became merely an amusenent and remains so at the present Arbalast. which are centuries old. In the United States scientific archery has only recently come into favor, though the bow has always been used as a ARMY SOLITAIRE toy. In 1879 was formed a National Archery Association, which holds meetings every year and awards gold medals as prizes. 23 places being reserved for them till From these foundathey appear. tions, "towers," one of each suit, must be built up by placing on each SOLI- in order the other cards of the same ARMY SOLITAIRE. A TAIRE game of CARDS, played with suit up to the King. If the foundaone full pack. The first card taken tion card is an Ace, the tower will from the pack, whatever it may be, thus include all the cards, but otherand the similar cards of the other wise not. Other cards than the founsuits are called foundation cards. dations are placed to form the five These cards whenever they ap- remaining cards of the square, till all are placed to form the the places are occupied. After that, pear corners of a square of nine cards, a card may be placed on any of them Shooting at the Butts with the Cross-Bow. which ranks just above or just below | when any pile of the latter is entirely it, without regarding suit. If a card, which will go on neither the towers nor in the "reserve corps," as the other piles are called, is turned, it must be laid aside to form "stock." The top card of any pile of the reserve corps may be placed on any other pile, either a tower or another reserve pile, if it belongs there. Thus, a Ten on a reserve pile may be put on a Nine of the same suit on a tower; or on a Nine or Knave of any suit on another reserve pile, and used, the top card of the stock is taken to fill the vacant space. When all the cards are used, the stock is shuffled and played. This is usually done only once, but sometimes the player continues to do so till he completes his towers, measuring his skill by the number of shufflings of the stock. Skill is required in arranging the reserve corps so that it will best aid the building of the towers. The game is often more difficult with a small tower to build (as when a Nine or Ten is the foundation) than with a higher one, for the useless cards clog the reserve corps. Sometimes, instead of stopping at the King, the towers are built higher, going on with the Ace, Two, Three, etc., till the whole suit is used, ending with the card just below the foundation card. Sometimes the reserve piles are built only downward instead of in either direction. This game of Solitaire is said to have been much played by the soldiers during our Civil War. ARTIFICIAL WOOD. A solution of copper in strong ammonia has the property of dissolving woody fibre. To make it, half fill a quart bottle with ammonia and put into it a bunch of straight copper wires, of such a length that about half will be above the water. They should be allowed to stand thus several months, the bottle being shaken occasionally and the cork removed for a few minutes once in a while to admit more air, which is necessary to the formation of the solution. Cut old newspapers into disks about an inch in diameter, and clip the disks on the edges so that they can be readily molded to a curved surface. They may now be partially dissolved in the solution, and will then adhere closely to form a solid mass, like wood. The disks are best put in shape over a mold. For instance, if a thin glass flask be used, they can be molded over its surface, and then the flask can be broken by a sudden blow, leaving a wooden bottle when the fragments are removed. The solution should be poured, a little at a time, into a flat dish, and frequently renewed. The disks are soaked in it for a few minutes, till they feel slippery, and then molded over the bottle. Rubber finger-tips may be used to prevent injury to the fingers from the strong ammonia. After one layer has been applied, another is put on, till the desired thickness is obtained. In the same way, after a little practice, other articles may be made. The paper disks are not simply stuck together, like pasteboard, but form a solid wooden mass, and may be soaked in boiling water without coming apart. ATHLETIC GAMES, properly speaking, include all manly sports requiring physical strength, such as BASE BALL, FOOT BALL, FENCING, and the like, but in the ordinary use of the term it means only those in which each man contends for himself alone. The sports in which several work together as a "team" are treated under their own titles. In this article are described only those feats included in the championship contests of athletic societies, together with a few additional ones sometimes seen at collegiate and other contests. The games usually found on the programmes of the Amateur Athletic Union, the chief athletic association in the United States (see p.38), are as follows: 100 yards dash, 220 yards dash, One-quarter mile run, One-half mile run, and the One mile run; also, Running five miles. Hurdle racing, 120 yards with hurdles 3 ft. 6 in., 220 yards with hurdles 2 ft. 6 in. Walking one mile, Walking three miles, Walking seven miles. Running high jump, and the Broad jump. Pole leaping, Putting the shot, Throwing the hammer, Throwing 56 lb. weight, Bicycle racing, Individual Tug of War, and Tug of War with teams of five men. Each of these games is called an "event." Rule I-Officials.-Section 1. All amateur meetings shall be under the direction of: A Games Committee, One Referee, Two or more Inspectors, Three Judges at Finish, Three or more Field Judges, Three Timekeepers, One Judge of Walking, One Starter, One Clerk of the Course, One Scorer, One Marshal. Sec. 2. If deemed necessary, as |