The American Boys Handy Book

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1890 Excerpt: ...of the same wood. The surface is of equal thickness from end to end." Among the South American Indians the sumpitan is represented by the long delicate "pucuna," or the heavy and unwieldy "zarabatana." All savages use poisoned arrows in their blow-guns instead of harmless pellets of clay or putty. Taking a few hints from the primitive warriors and hunters of Borneo and South America, any boy, with a little care and small expense, can construct for himself a blow-gun which will be handy to carry around and will shoot with great accuracy. Mr. W. Hamilton Gibson, the well-known artist, has acquired such skill with the blowgun that he seldom misses the mark, and often brings home birds and other creatures brought down by a clay pellet blown from a glass sumpitan. For twenty-five cents a glass tube, three or four feet long, can be purchased. With these tubes can be made the best of blowguns, but they are objectionable on account of being liable to break at any moment from some accidental blow or jar. With some flannel or woollen cloth and an old piece of cane fishing-pole a cover and a case can be made to enclose the glass and prevent its being broken by anything short of a severe knock or fall. To Make a Blow-Gun. Select a good straight piece of glass tube about three or four feet long. To discover whether the glass tube is straight or not, hold it horizontally level with the eye and look through it, and any deviation will be quickly seen. Wrap the tube with strips of flannel or woollen cloth, as illustrated by Fig. 131, A. The A. rii fo--D cJfe Fig. 131.--The Hunter's Blow-Gun. cloth will make a soft covering or cushion for the outside of the glass and render it less liable to break. With a red-hot iron rod, or some similar instrument,...