the ornaments represented on it that they are worth recording. The stock is of wood, overlaid with plaques of polished stag's horn, carved in relief with the following subjects. On the left-hand side, starting at the bottom, is depicted (I) Eve tempting Adam. (II) The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian. (III) A composition of knights in the harness of about 1450-70, above which appears a frieze of shields of arms, seven in number, representing—(i) Bohemia, (ii) Austria, (iii) Hungary, or possibly the lordship of Mindelheim; (iv) ?, (v) ?, (vi) the shield of the family coat of Von Welwardt, (vii) an ancient armorial bearing of Hungary, said to have been granted by the Pope in the year 1000 to King Stephen I of that country. (IV) Two youths engaged in an encounter with two-handed swords. On the right-hand side, starting also at the bottom, can be seen (i) St. George and the Dragon, (ii) a composition of dancing figures, (iii) an allegorical group representing women led astray by Folly in spite of the efforts of Wisdom (above them is a frieze of shields of arms). (V) The Emperor Maxentius ordering the decapitation of St. Catherine. Beneath are (i) three monsters with interlaced necks and tails; (ii) a bagpiper, the shield of arms possibly of the Colonna family; (iii) St. George standing on the vanquished dragon.
The barrel of this specimen is of stag's horn, and the mounts of the stock are partly gilt. On the bow, which is of great strength, cased in leather and painted parchment, the original twined string can be seen attached.
Towards the latter part of the XVth century another and more simple method of bending the bow was arrived at, through the invention of a lever called the goat's-foot, pied de chèvre (Geisfuss), occasionally termed "crow's-foot." This lever consists in three parts—the handle, the large fork, and the prongs attached to it—which are curved into a hooked form to fit over the trunnions of the crossbow stock. The small prongs moving round two pivots fixed to the prongs of the large fork catch the bow string. The two prongs of the large fork fit over the trunnions; the small fork receives the string, so that when the handle is drawn smartly backwards, it presses against the base of the large fork, draws the string, and brings it over the notch of the barrel. The goat's-foot lever is then removed and the bow is strung.
For specimens of the XVth century type of crossbow which were bent by the goat's-foot lever, students must go to the Musée d'Artillerie of Paris, or to the National Bavarian Museum of Munich, where admirable examples of the arbalète à pied de chèvre are to be seen; but it will serve our purpose better to depict an easily accessible specimen, though it is of
