Fronde

( Fr. ). A sling. This weapon was used in France by the Huguenots at Sancerre, as late as the year 1572, in order to save their powder. There were two kinds: one which was used in throwing a stone from the arm, and the other that was fixed to a lever, and was so contrived that a large quantity of stones might be thrown out of a machine, either from a camp into a besieged town, or from a town into the enemy’s camp. This machine has been used since the invention of cannon. The fronde or sling was used by the Romans on three different occasions, viz.: when they sent their light-armed men, called velites , forward to skirmish before a general engagement; when they wished to drive the enemy from under the walls of a town which they were preparing to storm, and finally to hara and wound the men in the enemy’s works. This weapon, in fact, together with the bow and arrow, may be numbered among the primitive arms of mankind.