the explanation, the hole and string have nothing to do either with diskos or with solos, nor is there any ground for the statement that the solos was an athletic implement distinct from the diskos. The popular translation of diskos as “quoit” is erroneous and most misleading. [Illustration: Fig. 71. B.-f. amphora, in British Museum, B. 271.] The diskos of the fifth century was of bronze, but the Homeric diskos was of stone, and Pindar, therefore, makes the heroes Niceus and Castor hurl the older stone diskos rather than the bronze diskos of his own day.[565] The stone diskos is clearly represented on the black-figured vases of the sixth century as a thick white object (Fig. 71), but the metal diskos must have been introduced before the close of this century. The British Museum possesses a bronze diskos found at Cephallenia which bears a sixth-century inscription (Fig. 73). [Illustration: Fig. 72. Bronze diskos found at Aegina. Berlin.] There exist in our museums various inscribed and carved marble diskoi.[566] But though in size and shape they differ little from the bronze specimens, they are too fragile and thin for actual use, and their inscriptions prove clearly that they are merely votive offerings. The practice of inscribing and dedicating diskoi was an ancient one, as we see from the diskos of Iphitos dedicated at Olympia. With regard to the metal diskos we are more fortunate. Of the fifteen specimens which we possess, four are probably votive offerings, but one of these certainly, possibly three, had also been used; the rest were certainly intended for use. Their weights and measurements can be best seen from the following table:— Finding-place. Museum. Weight in Diameter Thickness kilos. in cms. in mms. 1. Olympia Olympia, _Inv._ 7567 5·707 34 5-13 2. Corfu B.M. 2691 3·992 23 6-13 3. Gela Vienna 3·800 28 7 4. Amyclae Athens, De Ridder, 3·349 19 _Cat._ 530 5. Olympia Olympia, _Inv._ 4257 2·945 (?) 22 6-12 6. Olympia Olympia, _Inv._ 2·775 18 11-12 12,892 7. Olympia Rome, Museo 2·378 21, 21·5 Kircheriano 8. Olympia Olympia, _Inv._ 2859 2·083 19, 22·5 3 at edge 9. Sicily B.M. 248 2·075 21 5 10. Olympia Berlin 2·023 17·5 9-10 11. Aegina Berlin 1·984 21 12. Olympia Berlin 1·721 20 7 13. Olympia Berlin, _Inv._ 2286 1·353 (?) 20·5 4 14. Olympia Olympia, _Inv._ 1·268 17 4-12 12,891 15. Cephallenia B.M. 3207 1·245 16·5 5