le
we invariably find a word of which handcuffs is the only real
translation. It is also interesting to note that in the Anglo-Saxon
version the kings are bound in "footcops" and the nobles in "handcops."

In the early Saxon times, therefore, we find our instrument is familiar
to all and in general use, as it has continued to be to this day. But
during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries there is no instance of the
use of the word "handcop"; its place is taken by "swivel manacle" and
"shackbolt," the latter word being often used by Elizabethan authors.

Handcuffs, like other things, have improved with time. Up to 1850 there
were two kinds in general use in England. One of the forms, most common
in the earlier part of this century, went under the name of the "Figure
8." This instrument does not allow the prisoner even that small amount
of liberty which is granted by its modern counterpart. It was chiefly
used for refractory prisoners who resorted to violence, for it had the
advantage of keeping the hands in a fixed position, either before or on
the back of the body. The pain it inflicted made it partake of the
nature of a punishment rather than merely a preventive against
resistance or attack. It was a punishment, too, which was universally
dreaded by prisoners of all kinds, for there is no more unbearable pain
than that of having a limb immovably confined.

[Illustration: NO. 1.--THE "FLEXIBLE."]

The other kind of form known as the "Flexible" (No. 1) resembled in
general outlines the handcuffs used every day by detectives.

Contrivances, chiefly the result of American ingenuity, for the rapid
and effectual securing of prisoners have not been wanting, and among
them the "Snap," the "Nippers" (No. 3) and the "Twister" must be
mentioned.

[Illustration: NO. 2.--THE "SNAP."]

[Illustration: NO. 3.--"NIPPERS."]

[Illustration: NO. 4.--THE "TWISTER"]

The "Snap" (No. 2) is the one which used to be the most approved of. It
consists of two loops, of which the smaller is slipped on the wrists of
the person to be arrested, the bars are then closed with a snap, and the
larger loop is held by the officer. The manner in which the "Twister"
(No. 4) was used savours very much of the brutal, and, indeed, the
injuries it inflicted on those who were misguided enough to struggle
when in its grasp caused its abolition in Great Britain.

Its simplicity and its efficacy, together with the cruelty, have
recommended it for use i