self,
would throw the priming from the touch-hole, and it is almost
unnecessary to add, that in rainy or even very damp weather, such a gun
was utterly useless. The first step in improvement was to place the
touch-hole on the right side of the barrel instead of upon the top, and
to attach a small pan which held the priming. By this means the priming
was kept from being blown away by the wind, though scarce any other
advantage was attained.

About the year 1475 a great advance was made by the invention of the
_arquebus_ or _bow-gun_. A spring let loose by a trigger threw the
match, which was fastened to it, forward, into the pan which contained
the priming. It was from this spring that the gun took its name.

The arquebus is mentioned by Philip de Comines, in his account of the
battle of Morat, in 1476. It appears to have been used in England in
1480.

But as yet no improvement had been made by which the soldier was enabled
to take aim. The butt of the arquebus was perfectly straight, and placed
against the breast when the gun was fired. The danger of being knocked
over by the recoil of the piece was great, that of hurting the enemy
very small. The Germans first conceived the idea of bending the butt
downward, and thus elevating the barrel so as to bring it in the range
of the eye. They also sloped it so as to fit the shoulder instead of
being held against the breast. The arquebus constructed in this manner
was used in England in the time of Henry VIII., and was variously called
haquebut, hakebut, hagbut, and hagbus, names all derived from the hooked
shape of the butt. A small sized arquebus, with a nearly semi-circular
butt, and called a demihaque, was probably the origin of the modern
pistol.

[Illustration: JENNINGS'S RIFLE.]

The musket, invented in Spain, was introduced into France in the reign
of Charles IX., by De Strozzi, Colonel-General of the King's infantry,
and thence into England. At first it was so heavy that each musketeer
was accompanied by a boy to assist him in carrying it. It was, however,
soon decreased in weight sufficiently to enable the musketeer to carry
it himself, though it was still so heavy that he could only fire it from
a rest. This rest, which each musketeer carried with him, consisted of a
stick the height of his shoulder, pointed at the lower end, and having
at the upper an iron fork in which the musket barrel was laid. In a
flask the musketeer carried his coarse powder for loading.