fairly beat the guv'nor;" but his father is known to have remarked to a City acquaintance that he solved the thing in his head in a minute. I often wonder which spoke the truth.
98.—ACADEMIC COURTESIES.
In a certain mixed school, where a special feature was made of the inculcation of good manners, they had a curious rule on assembling every morning. There were twice as many girls as boys. Every girl made a bow to every other girl, to every boy, and to the teacher. Every boy made a bow to every other boy, to every girl, and to the teacher. In all there were nine hundred bows made in that model academy every morning. Now, can you say exactly how many boys there were in the school? If you are not very careful, you are likely to get a good deal out in your calculation.
99.—THE THIRTY-THREE PEARLS.
"A man I know," said Teddy Nicholson at a certain family party, "possesses a string of thirty-three pearls. The middle pearl is the largest and best of all, and the others are so selected and arranged that, starting from one end, each successive pearl is worth £100 more than the preceding one, right up to the big pearl. From the other end the pearls increase in value by £150 up to the large pearl. The whole string is worth £65,000. What is the value of that large pearl?"
"Pearls and other articles of clothing," said Uncle Walter, when the price of the precious gem had been discovered, remind me of Adam and Eve. Authorities, you may not know, differ as to the number of apples that were eaten by Adam and Eve. It is the opinion of some that Eve 8 (ate) and Adam 2 (too), a total of 10 only. But certain mathematicians have figured it out differently, and hold that Eve 8 and Adam 8, a total of 16. Yet the most recent investigators think the above figures entirely wrong, for if Eve 8 and Adam 8 2, the total must be 90."
"Well," said Harry, "it seems to me that if there were giants in those days, probably Eve 8 1 and Adam 8 2, which would give a total of 163."
"I am not at all satisfied," said Maud. "It seems to me that if Eve 8 1 and Adam 8 1 2, they together consumed 893."
"I am sure you are all wrong," insisted Mr. Wilson, "for I consider that Eve 8 1 4 Adam, and Adam 8 1 2 4 Eve, so we get a total of 8,938."
"But, look here," broke in Herbert. "If Eve 8 1 4 Adam and Adam 8 1 2 4 2 oblige Eve, surely the total must have been 82,056!"
At this point Uncle Walter suggested that they might let the matter rest. He declared it to be clearly what mathematicians call an indeterminate problem.
100.—THE LABOURER'S PUZZLE.
Professor Rackbrane, during one of his rambles, chanced to come upon a man digging a deep hole.
"Good morning," he said. "How deep is that hole?"
"Guess," replied the labourer. "My height is exactly five feet ten inches."
"How much deeper are you going?" said the professor.
"I am going twice as deep," was the answer, "and then my head will be twice as far below ground as it is now above ground."
Rackbrane now asks if you could tell how deep that hole would be when finished.
101.—THE TRUSSES OF HAY.
Farmer Tompkins had five trusses of hay, which he told his man Hodge to weigh before delivering them to a customer. The stupid fellow weighed them two at a time in all possible ways, and informed his master that the weights in pounds were 110, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, and 121. Now, how was Farmer Tompkins to find out from these figures how much every one of the five trusses weighed singly? The reader may at first think that he ought to be told "which pair is which pair," or something of that sort, but it is quite unnecessary. Can you give the five correct weights?
102.—MR. GUBBINS IN A FOG.
Mr. Gubbins, a diligent man of business, was much inconvenienced by a London fog. The electric light happened to be out of order and he had to manage as best he could with two candles. His clerk assured him that though
