--should abandon it when they came
to the sword.

Be this as it may, there is no doubt that the short Roman sword, which
was practically a large heavy dagger, sharp-pointed, double-edged, and
straight-bladed, was extensively used for thrusting. For cutting
purposes, however, it could not, from the absence of curve in the edge
of the blade, have been equal to the early Greek weapon.

[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Short Roman sword.]

When iron began to play a prominent part in the construction of articles
requiring hardness, strength, and durability, a great stride was made in
the production of war-like weapons, and it was then very soon discovered
that ordinary forged iron was too soft and easily bent, and it was not
until the art of tempering began to be roughly understood that iron, or
more correctly speaking steel, swords were brought to a degree of
perfection sufficient to entitle them to a higher place than their
bronze predecessors.

It is believed that the Egyptians had some method of tempering their
bronze chisels, which is now numbered amongst the lost arts; otherwise,
how could they have carved the head of the Sphinx and innumerable other
works out of the intensely hard stone of which so many of their
monuments are cut?

The modern sword blade is constructed of steel, tempered so as to suit
the particular kind of work for which it is intended.

"Mechanical invention has not," says the "Encyclopaedia Britannica,"
"been able to supersede or equal handwork in the production of good
sword blades. The swordsmiths' craft is still, no less than it was in
the Middle Ages, essentially a handicraft, and it requires a high order
of skill. His rough material is a bar of cast and hammered steel,
tapering from the centre to the ends; when this is cut in two each half
is made into a sword. The 'tang,' which fits into the handle, is not
part of the blade, but a piece of wrought iron welded on to its base.
From this first stage to the finishing of the point it is all hammer and
anvil work. Special tools are used to form grooves in the blade,
according to the regulation or other pattern desired, but the shape and
weight of the blade are fixed wholly by the skilled hand and eye of the
smith. Measuring tools are at hand, but are little used. Great care is
necessary to avoid over-heating the metal, which would produce a brittle
crystalline grain, and to keep the surface free from oxide, which would
be injurious if hammered i