(a) The pre-historic whip was probably only a goad (stimulus). There is no reason to imagine that it was anything more elegant to look at than a long stick with a sharp point to it. This kind of goad was used up to the tenth century, and is even used in the present century upon sand donkeys, with both ends of the stick unsharpened.

(6) After the goad a mild form of "cat" was invented; it was used in the reign of Solomon. We may safely assume that it was constructed of two or more thongs of hide, securely bound to a wooden handle. This was in vogue A.M. 2971.

(c) Rehoboam had a severe edition of Solomon's whip. It was most likely made with bristles, or perhaps bones acted as substitutes for knots.

(d) The ancient Greeks, according to their historians and artists (vide the paintings on the walls of excavated buildings at Herculaneum, Pompeii, and elsewhere), had both "cats" or flagella mentioned in (c). They also had others that were milder.

(e) The ancient Romans had flagella consisting of three short chains, with knobs of metal at the end, attached to a short handle. They resembled

a

diminutive stock-whip with three lashes. "Cats" with two and sometimes with three lashes of knotted cords, or even wire, were used. These lashes were called scorpions. The Romans also had "fasces," i.e. a bundle of rods tied together with an axe in the centre, this being a badge of authority.

(f) We may assume that the ancient Romans introduced the "cat" into the States which they

conquered, for it will be remembered that they were strict disciplinarians.

(g) From an illuminated psalter, copied in the eleventh century, we gather that whips with two lashes were used in England at that period. In the fourteenth century the carter used a whip with three lashes.

(h) Prints of the fifteenth century show whips having only one lash.

(i) Postillions were employed in the eighteenth century and previous to that period, and consequently noblemen and gentlemen living in those times paid very little attention to driving whips, because they rarely drove themselves.

(7) In the eighteenth century whips were bent at the top, and became more shapely. The best cutting whip-handles were made of "shagreen."

(k) Whips of the present day far surpass those which have been mentioned by historians, and they are not designed to permanently injure either a human being or an animal. The Russian "knout," also bullock-whip and stock-whips, are not merciful correctors, but the Russian "knout " was not designed in the nineteenth century.

A curious whip in the Elsenham collection is the packman's. This is a specimen of the whip used by packmen and carriers in the latter half of the eighteenth century. The metal head unscrews to reveal within the thick part of the stock a receptacle for pen and ink and spare horsenails.

There is no great difference, save in superior workmanship, between the carriage-whip of 1790

and that of to-day. The thickened grip of the typical whip is clumsier than the neatly graduated grip put upon our modern whips, but otherwise there is little to choose between the old and the

new.

Modern whips are wonderfully light and wellbalanced; the best "stocks" are made of "rabbitbitten" holly. In frosty weather, when rabbits cannot get much to eat, they gnaw the bark of hollies, and the places which they bite get frozen. After a good holly-stick has thus been ill-treated by conies, it is cut and sold to a whip-maker, and the ungnawed bark is taken off, but the "rabbitbitten" is left on. It forms an admirable grip for the hand. The best hollies are grown in Kent, but Sussex and the New Forest also supply fine stocks.

A good instance of history repeating itself is furnished by "dog-knee" stocks. They were used seventy years ago by four-in-hand coachmen and afterwards went out of fashion, and have only recently come in again. Most whip stocks are straight; the best are made from holly, but several other woods answer the purpose admirably, as blackthorn with the bark left on. Yew has a better "natural play" than any other, and lancewood is extremely popular; it is dressed in all kinds of patterns, and shaped to any size. Varnished green lance-wood stocks are quite the rage, and so also are "built" cane. The latter are constructed as follows: a steel rod forms the centre, and six pieces of cane, in hexagonal shape, are built round it, overlapped at intervals

with fine gut. The silver mounting is usually hexagonal shape, to match the stock. There are likewise jointed whips, which are particularly useful for travelling, because they can be taken to pieces and fastened on to a board and put under the seat of a railway compartment, &c. As we mentioned before, modern whip-makers cannot make "shagreen" handles, but they can produce others that are even prettier. However, the Japanese surpass the English in this art, and plain ivory handles are frequently sent to Japan, and are returned in twelve months' time beautifully lacquered. A great number of the fancy handles made at home are cut out of lizard and crocodile skins. The most serviceable are pigskin; they are more durable than Russian leather, although their smell is less agreeable. Then we have seamless handles; each one is made by a calf's tail being dragged tightly over an iron tube.

To omit to call attention to crops, stock-whips, cutting whips, American straight buggy whips, besides many other sorts, would be unsatisfactory; yet to give more than a few lines to each would mean lengthening an article until it became as voluminous as a book. Nevertheless, the following facts ought to be laid stress on, if only to call attention to the advance in the whip industry during the nineteenth century. We will run through the chief points of the leading varieties, and implore the reader's forgiveness if we fail to allude to some that are well worthy of being mentioned. A modern hunting