OF LONG AGO
hundreds, and similarly for all other fives, and the lines were now horizontal. We do not know when these changes were made, but they came in what are called the Dark iges.
HOW ROBERT WROTE 1922 WITH COUNTERS
This shows how Robert Record represented MDCCCCXXII, or 1922, by counters. We sometimes see the number written MCMXXII, but this is not the old way of writing it. The cross was always placed on the 1000’s line so as to aid the eye in reading the number. It finally suggested the use of the comma in writing a number like 47,256
Because Robert cast the calculi down on the board, he spoke of “casting an account,” and
this expression is sometimes used to-day. The board on which he counted was generally
called a “counter.” We buy goods over the counter to-day, not thinking what the word
originally meant. Robert also called the calculi “counters,” and if you have read Shakespeare
you may have seen the expression “a counter
57
