1908] on Ancient and Mediceval Weapons. 321 



gracefully alons:, it flies with great force and rapidity, and as it 

 revolves in its flight, it would give a terrible slicing wound. I have 

 often seen one of these quoits cut through a tree branch a full inch 

 in diameter, and this with hardly any check to its flight. This will 

 give an idea of what a fearful weapon it must have formerly been in an 

 Oriental country, where the limbs of soldiers of lower ranks were 

 usually unprotected. 



The upper surface of the quoit, or the surface that is held upper- 

 most when the quoit is thrown, is slightly convex. The under side 

 is flat. When the quoit is tlirown, its convex surface prevents it 

 from inclining upwards, and its flat surface prevents it from inclining 

 downwards, and as the weapon is so thin, and is held in a level 

 position when projected, it ofl'ers slight resistance to the air, and 

 hence travels a very long distance. I have often thrown one of 

 these quoits over 200 yards, its height above the ground, for two- 

 thirds of its flight, not exceeding 4 or 5 feet. This shows what a 

 deadly weapon it must have been in warfare when used by the native 

 soldier, who could doubtless cast it with much more force and pre- 

 cision than I can. 



The weapon is propelled entirely by the first finger. The second 

 finger and the thumb— the former beneath its rim, the latter above 

 it — being merely utilised to hold it in a level position as it leaves 

 the hand. It is not given any intentional spin, nor is it first twisted 

 round on the finger before it is thrown. The spin comes naturally 

 when the quoit is projected, owing to its circular shape, and to the 

 application of the propelling force to one point of its periphery only. 



I have seen experts, selected from a regiment of Sikhs, throw 

 these quoits at a small soft-wood tree, such as a plantain, about six 

 feet in height, that was erected as a target at a distance of eighty to 

 one hundred yards. Each man was allowed so many throws, and the 

 man who cut off the lowest part of the stem of the tree above ground, 

 or that part of it which was left untouched by the other throwers, 

 won the prize, which usually consisted of a quoit inlaid with gold, 

 and bearing the date of the competition and the name of the winner. 



This quoit was formerly a sacred emblem of war, and is repre- 

 sented in India in many sculptures, wall paintings and illustrated manu- 

 scripts. Yishnu, the Supreme God of the Hindus, is figured 

 as having four arms, each of his hands holding a quoit. He was 

 supposed to have used them with terrible effect against the demons 

 who, according to Indian mythology, were for ever plotting evil 

 against gods and men. 



Aechery. 



The Long-loiv. — I shall not enter into a description of the bows 

 of various countries, as this would require a long discourse in 

 itself. I will merely deal with the two very interesting and distinct 



Voi,. XIX. (Xo. 102) Y 



