Page 13 Advertisements Column 5

Otago Witness, Issue 1313, 27 January 1877, Page 13

TO CORRESPONDENTS. Correspondents must enclose name and address, not for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. We in all cases claim the right to correct or abbreviate communications. We cannot guarantee the return of declined MSS, unless accompanied by a stamped envelope. All communications and letters for the editorial department should be addressed to " The Editor." Advertisements, orders, &c, should be kept distinct, and addressed to " The Manager." RIDDLERS are informed that all we require is tne number and tne answer. There need be no prefatorial remarks, and in most cases postal cards can be used. Address, "Riddler," Witness Office, Dunedin. MARY. — In our next. NOTES AND QUERIES. TIM FINAGAN, Beacoasfield, sends the following for the consideration of Alexander Gaw : — Tim thinks it proper to caution Mr Gaw against the absurdity of attemptmg to multiply money by money. This caution will not appear unnecessary, if it ba considered that whole pages have been filled with instructions how to perform this problem, and that it has been attempted to be shown, even with the semblance ofc geometrical demonstration, that if 2s 6d be multiplied by 2s 6d, the product may be either 3|d or 6s 3d. Let ifc be considered, however, that in multiplication a quantity is simply repeated a given number of times : Thus, if 2s 6d be repeated four times, the amount is 10s ; if five times, 12s 6d, &c. To talk, however, of multiplying 2a 66. by 2s 6d, or, which is precisely the same, of repeating 2s 6d— 2s 6d times, is absurd. In the rule of proportion, indeed, we sometimes appear to multiply such quantities. Thus, in finding the interest of a sum afc a given rate for a year, we multiply by the rate and divide by 100. In this case, however, both 100 and the rate are divested of their characters as expressions for money, and are merely to be regarded as abstract numbers used as terms of a ratio. By multiplying by the rate — suppose five— we merely repeat the principal five times, or find a principal five times as great; and then, as there must be one pound of interest for each hundred pounds in this increased principal, we try by division how often ifc contains £100, and we thus find the pounds of the interest. We see from the nature of division that there is no absurdity in dividing money by money : this is in finding how often one sum is contained in another. ANSWERS. F. L., Milton.— The origin of the saying " Hobson's Choice "-—(no alternative)— is given in the Spectator, No. 509. Tobia3 Hobson was the first man in England that let out hackney horses. When a man cam© for a horse, he was led into the stable, where there was a great choice, but he obliged him to take the horse which stood next to the stable door ; so that every customer was. - alike well served according to his chance, from whence it became a proverb, when what ought to be your election was forced upon you, to say " Hobson's choice." JOHN McNICHOL.— We should say that the same letter should not be used more than onceGUANO. — Mr Thomas Harrison, Invercargill, sends the following useful hints to the farmer in buying guano : 1. It should be light coloured ; if dark, the chances are that it has been damaged by water. 2. It should be dry, and when a handful is well pressed together it should cohere very slightly. 3. It should not have too powerful an ammoniacal odour. 4. Ifc should have lumps, which, when broken, should be of a paler colour than the sample. 5. When rubbed between the fingers ifc should not be gritty. 6. A bushel of the guano should not weigh more than 50 or 60 lbs. ENQUIRER, St. Bathans.— Soft soap, turpentine, or kerosene, are very good.