xtremely elegant, and have much of the character of the modern bow
in finish and _cambre_, though the deviation is again too low down.

[Illustration: PLATE II.]

CHAPTER V.

VUILLAUME'S FACTS--THE FERRULE AND SLIDE--JOHN DODD.

Another example of bow, remarkable not only for its ornamentation,
but also as having a well defined _cambre_ together with a nut and
screw, is Fig. 30.

[Illustration: FIG. 30.]

This is a Cremonese bow of the seventeenth century. It is fluted in
alternate sections, or panels, the lower third having a slight extra
complication of the design "thrown in." Truly these grand old
craftsmen were not afraid of work. The screw-nut is as perfect as one
could wish, saving, only, in the meagre allowance of hair provided
for.

These early bows with screw-nuts quite dispel the generally accepted
theory that this mechanical contrivance for regulating the tension
and preserving the elasticity of the stick was the invention of the
elder Tourte. The majority of writers on the history of the violin,
and, incidentally, the bow, are content to take their data from that
much quoted historian and scientist, Fetis. He appears to have made
most of his more important statements on the authority of Vuillaume.
How Vuillaume became so versed in the history of his craft does not
appear. His talent in the way of producing "genuine" Cremonese and
other masterpieces is well known, the most stupendous example being
the Duiffoprugcar instruments with which he imposed on the violin
world so successfully. May we infer that he had equal facility in the
fabrication of historical "facts"? _De mortuis nil nisi bonum_, but
at all cost our history must be made accurate. Better no facts at all
than spurious ones.

Having disposed of the screw attachment, the next important points in
the development of the bow is the ferrule, which preserves the
ribbon-like appearance of the hair, and the slide, which serves as an
ornamental cover for the mortice in which the hair is fixed. These
additions are commonly attributed to Francois Tourte, but in Fig. 31
I give a drawing of a typical nut by John Dodd, having both these
improvements.

[Illustration: FIG. 31.]

Dodd and Tourte were contemporaries, Tourte's birth having taken
place only five years before that of Dodd in 1752. When I come to
speak more particularly of Tourte I shall show my reasons for
thinking it unlikely that Dodd copied Tourte in this respect. The
whole ma