content_output-026_5 (Q5819)

It was as an instrument of the chase that the weapon which would kill at a distance was developed; it may be that a flint used for some domestic purpose, and found handy because it was the particular flint most often used, led to the securing of that one flint to the wrist or waist by a thong; thus could the chosen weapon be recovered, and quickly used time after time until the prey was taken or the foe vanquished. This weapon, flint-and-thong, is the first form of the sling-shot, an arm still favoured by the Scotch Highlanders; from it too, probably, the sling was developed. Possibly accident caused to be noticed the increased power of the sling-hurled missile over that of the flint thrown by unaided arm. The use of the sling is, or has been, almost universal. Its invention by the Phenicians or Acarnanians, or the Atolians, is clearly as mythical as the legend relating to Apollo and the production of the bow. The Achaians and Balerians were extremely