LANCE, a weapon consisting of a long shaft with a sharp point, much used, particularly before the invention of firearms. It is a thrusting weapon used on foot, but chiefly on horseback. In the Middle Ages the lance was held in the highest repute by knights and men at-arms who formed the main strength of European armies; it was gradually superseded by the invention of gun powder. The lances now in use among the European cavalry have a shaft of ash or beech-wood from 8 to 16 feet long, with a steel point 8 or 10 inches long, and, to prevent this from being cut off by a saber stroke, the shaft is guarded by a strip of iron on each side from 11/2 feet to 2 feet long. The other end has an iron cap to prevent splitting. The point has a small pennon, intended to frighten the enemy's horses.
Free lance: Formerly a mercenary soldier, owing allegiance to no one per manently; hence a person who is free to assail any party or principle and is not pledged to any one more than tempo rarily.
Stink-fire lance: A fuse which, when ignited, emits a suffocating odor, and is used in military mining operations to dislodge counter-miners.
In carpentry, a pointed blade, usually employed to sever the grain on each side of the intended path of a chipping-bit or router. It is used in crozes, planes, and gauges of certain kinds. In the Greek ritual, a small knife used in the early part of the present Greek liturgy to di vide the Host from the holy loaf. The action commemorates the piercing of our Lord's side. The priest makes four cuts in the loaf, and stabs it more than once, accompanying each action with appropri ate texts of Scripture. In pyrotechnics, lances are small paper cases, filled with composition, and attached to light frames of wood, to mark the outlines of the fig ures in pyrotechnical devices. Various chemicals give the desired color to the flame.