[Histonet] RE: OT. Agincourt Salute

[Prior, A.E.]

As an Englishman I feel I must correct Dick Paulson. The traditional English "Agincourt Salute" is performed by forming a V with the index and middle fingers ( a reversed peace sign if you like). These two fingers were used to draw the long bow. (Incidently it is possible to draw a bow using ones index and ring finger, though at a lower poundage so the removal of the middle finger would not be sufficient to stop an English archer)
The use of only the middle finger and the phrase " giving the bird" seem to be of American origin, as my first encounters of these 'rituals' were via Hollywood movies.

Now that this has been cleared up, we can revert to histological discussions. Oh, and can people please send entries as plain text as MIME formats are not read properly by my univerity supplied software.

Andrew Prior
University of Leicester
UK