terwards by dealers. This is certainly the
case with the few Tourtes that are stamped with their maker's name,
for it is an ascertained fact that the Tourtes never stamped their
work. There are only two instances on record of Tourte marking a
stick, and in each case it consisted of a minute label glued into the
slot bearing the following inscription: "Cet archet a ete fait par
Tourte en 1824, age de soixante-dix-sept ans." (This bow was made by
Tourte in 1824, aged 77 years).

An important addition, said to have been instituted by Lupot, was the
metal plate which lines the groove in the nut and prevents the
wearing away of the nut by friction with the stick.

In Plate VII. I give two examples of Lupot's work. Here will be seen
all the tenderness of line characteristic of Tourte, albeit that they
lack somewhat of his force. The workmanship in these two bows is
superb, and they are also delightful to play with, being well
balanced and of controllable flexibility. This is a point in a bow
that is frequently overlooked. Many imagine that flexibility alone is
the chief desideratum, and bows have been shown to me almost
indiarubber-like in their pliancy; the owners expecting me to wax
enthusiastic over this--to my mind--serious defect. As a matter of
fact, flexibility and pliancy are not correct definitions of a bow's
chief quality, as they amount to weakness. What is really meant is
elasticity, by which is conveyed not only the property of yielding to
pressure but also that of speedily recovering its normal state. We
sometimes hear a player in testing bows say that such a one has too
much "life" in it; thereby implying that its action is largely out of
the performer's control, a condition usually attributable to an
excess of flexibility.

[Illustration: PLATE VII.]

As a contrast to the Lupot bows in Plate VII., I give two examples of
Dominique Peccatte, Plate VIII. Here we have forcibleness and energy
to a most marked extent, yet there is a certain grace withal, the
extreme squareness of the outer line does not offend the eye as in
those of Dodd.

[Illustration: PLATE VIII.]

Peccatte, like Francois Tourte, started life in an occupation far
removed from that which made him famous. His father was a barber at
Mirecourt, where Dominique was born 1810. Wielding the razor not
proving congenial, he adopted the prevailing industry of the town and
became a maker of violins and bows; in the latter he became
exceptionally ex