Without Answers.

Otago Witness, Issue 2203, 21 May 1896, Page 38

Without Answers.

'. • " Don't w p.b. this b^f-rre you have written tha word 'Hhimmiutn' quickly, and given a'hint to j our readers to do likewise," write? "J. E EL" "Is there another word in the language which produces such a scrawl, I won ■'er ? " ". * Here is o. singular illu-tration of th« optical delusion whieii a change of poeitiou will sometimes eftVcfc. Take a row of ordinary capital letters and figures: SSSSSSXXXXXX 33T)388858^. . They are such as are made up of two p*rts of equal shapes. L^ok carefully at these, and you will perceive thit the upper halves of tbo characters are very little smaller than tre lower halves —so little that an ordinary eye declares them to be of equal size. No* turn the paper uphide down, and without any careful looking you will see that this difft-rence in size is very much exngge»afced ; that the real top half of tbe lntter is very much »rnaller than the bottom htlf. ' .'.' You will perhaps remember the puzzle sent me by an Egyptian friend which I published in this column (says the conductor of a Puzzle column in a Home paper). It ran as follows: " Once there were three niggers who robbed an orchard, putting the apples in a sack, which latter they hid in a barn for the night, and went to bed. One of them soon woke up, and, not trusting hia comrades, went to the barn to secure' his share at once. He divided the apples in three equal heaps —there was one over, which he threw away—and earned off his share. Another nipgor then awoke, and, with the same uneasy mi«;d and resolution, he also went, divided the apples into three heaps —another single one being over, he flung it away —and carried off his share. Then the third niggec awoke with the same eniotums. lie, too, divided tbe remaining apples into thrpe portions, threw one away, took his 'sliare, ai.d departed. In the morning everyone preserved (silence over the night's doingi, and divided the remaining apples into three heaps - found one over again, which was thrown away—and each took his share. How many apples were originally in that sack?" There were 79 apples in the nigger's sack. At least, that is the answer sent ia by quite* number of readers. Ihe office mathematician has not worked it out for himself. He says the fact of 99 per c;nt of tho answer* being the simc is conclusive in itself. I don't quite see this myself." If anybody makes it anything else Til be ekd to hear bis WO* »nd wherefore