Crossbow versus counterweight: how each releases its body
Why the arrow leaves the string early while the counterweight holds its body to the end
This text-only page continues the comparison of two motors. Leonardo says the moved body follows the quality of the string's first velocity and separates from the cord before the cord has finished its own motion. The body driven by a counterweight does the opposite: beginning slowly and finishing with great impetus, it can never separate from its motor until that motor has completed its course.
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Early release by the string, late release by the counterweight
The passage explains that the moved body follows the quality of the cord's first velocity and leaves the cord before the cord has finished its motion. By contrast the body driven by a counterweight begins slow and ends with great impetus, so it cannot separate from its motor — as the crossbow's arrow does — until the motor has finished its own course.