idavit of documents, provision being also made for the production and
inspection of documents. Where a party to a suit can make an affidavit
stating that in his belief certain specified documents are or have been
in the possession of some other party, the court may make an order that
such party state on affidavit whether he has or ever had any of those
documents in his possession, or if he has parted with them or what has
become of them. A further application may then be made by notice to the
party who has admitted possession of the documents for production and
inspection. Copies also may be taken of the more important documents.
There is also discovery of facts obtained by means of interrogatories,
i.e. written questions addressed on behalf of one party, before trial,
to the other party, who is bound to answer them in writing upon oath. In
order to prevent needless expense the party seeking discovery must first
secure the cost of it by paying into court a sum of money, generally not
less than five pounds. See also EVIDENCE.

DISCUS (Gr. [Greek: diskos], disk), a circular plate of stone, later of
metal, which was used by the ancient Greeks for throwing to a distance
as a gymnastic exercise. Judging from specimens found by excavators, the
ancient discus was about 8 or 9 in. in diameter and weighed from 4 to 5
lb., although one of bronze, preserved in the British Museum, weighs
over 8 lb. Sometimes a kind of quoit, spherical in form, was used,
through a hole in which a thong was passed to assist the athlete in
throwing it. The sport of throwing the discus was common in the time of
Homer, who mentions it repeatedly. It formed a part of the _pentathlon_,
or quintuple games, in the ancient Olympic Games. Statius, in _Thebais_,
646-721, fully describes the use of the discus. In the British Museum
there is a restored copy of a statue by Myron (see GREEK ART, Plate IV.
fig. 68) of a discus-thrower (_discobolus_) in the act of hurling the
missile; but the investigations of N. E. Norman Gardiner show that a
wrong attitude has been adopted by the restorer.

Throwing the discus was introduced as an event in modern athletics at
the revived Olympic Games, first held at Athens in 1896, and since that
time it has become a recognized event in the athletic championship
meetings of several European nations, as well as in the United States,
where it has become very popular. According to the American rules the
discus must be of a smoo