stem _bug_- of _beugan_, Mod. Ger. _biegen_, to
bend). Thus it is found in English compound words, e.g. "elbow,"
"rainbow," "bow-net," "bow-window," "bow-knot," "saddle-bow," and by
itself as the designation of a great variety of objects. The Old English
use of "bow," or stone-bow, for "arch," now obsolete, survives in
certain names of churches and places, e.g. Bow church (St
Mary-in-Arcubus) in Cheapside, and Stratford-le-Bow (the
"Stratford-atte-Bowe" of Chaucer). "Bow," however, is still the
designation of objects so various as an appliance for shooting arrows
(see ARCHERY), a necktie in the form of a bow-knot (i.e. a double-looped
knot), a ring or hoop forming a handle (e.g. the bow of a watch),
certain instruments or tools consisting of a bent piece of wood with the
ends drawn together by a string, used for drilling, turning, &c., in
various crafts, and the stick strung with horsehair by means of which
the strings of instruments of the violin family are set in vibration. It
is with this last that the present article is solely concerned.

_Bow in Music_.--The modern bow (Fr. _archet_; Ger. _Bogen_; Ital.
_arco_) consists of five parts, i.e. the "stick," the screw or
"ferrule," the "nut," the "hair" and the "head." The stick, in
high-grade bows, is made of Pernambuco wood (_Caesalpinia
brasiliensis_), which alone combines the requisite lightness, elasticity
and power of resistance; for the cheaper bows American oak is used, and
for the double-bass bow beech. A billet rich in colouring matter and
straight in the grain is selected, and the stick is usually cut from a
templet so as to obtain the accurate taper, which begins about 4-1/4 in.
from the nut, decreasing according to regular proportions from 3/8 in.
at the screw to 3/16 at the back of the head. The stick is cut
absolutely straight and parallel along its whole length with the fibre
of the wood; it is then bent by heat until it is slightly convex to the
hair and has assumed the elegant _cambrure_ first given to it by
Francois Tourte (1747-1835). This process requires the greatest care,
for if the fibres be not heated right through, they offer a continual
resistance to the curve, and return after a time to the rigid straight
line, a defect often observed in cheap bows. The sticks are now of
either cylindrical or octagonal section, and are lapped or covered with
gold thread or leather for some inches beyond the nut in order to afford
a firm grip. The length of the