Note 5 — INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
Reading edition
As Mr. John Latham justly says (“The Shape of Sword-blades,” ‘Journal of the Royal United Service Institution,’ vol. vi.):—“The proper shape for a thrusting sword is pre-eminently straight.” The Clay-more, for instance, moving in a direct line, cuts a hole exactly the size of the blade; the Regulation sword, slightly curved, widens it to about double, and the bent scimitar and the Talwár, to five or six times, thus meeting with five or six times the resistance to its penetration. Mr. Latham is again quoted in another part of this System.