Part 19

81. A bought four horses for £120. For the second he gave £3 more than for the first, for the third £2 more than for the second, and for the fourth £6 more than the third. Find price of each.

82. With eight pieces of card of the shape of figure A, four of figure B and four of figure C, and of proportionate sizes, form a perfect square.

83. Place four 5’s so that they shall express 6½.

“SHE” AGAIN.

84. The country spark that asked the charming “she” How many years of age that she might be, Again asked her to tell to him in haste How many inches she was round the waist. “My waist is such if multiplied by four, Four-fifths of product add on my age more, The square root of three-fifths of this is six: Now find my waist, and get out of this fix.”

SOME LONG WORDS.

The eight longest words in the language are philoprogenitiveness, incomprehensibleness, disproportionableness, transubstantiationalist, suticonstitutionalist, honourifibilitudinity, velocipedestrianistical, and proautionsubstantionist. The last four are not found in the best dictionaries, but that most hideous word, “Dacryocystosyringokatakleisis,” is in some of the new lexicons.

HIS OWN GRANDFATHER.

The complication of relationship brought about by marriage is the cause of many a family squabble, but it is seldom one hears of fatal results attending such matters. According to an American newspaper, a resident of Pennsylvania committed suicide a few days ago from a melancholy conviction that he was his own grandfather.

The following is a copy of a singular letter he left:--“I married a widow who had a grown-up daughter. My father visited our house very often, fell in love with my step-daughter, and married her. So my father became my son-in-law and my step-daughter my mother, because she was my father’s wife. Some time afterwards my wife had a son; he was my father’s brother-in-law and my uncle, for he was the brother of my step-mother. My father’s wife--i.e., my step-daughter--had also a son; he was, of course, my brother, and in the meantime my grandchild, for he was the son of my daughter. My wife was my grandmother, because she was my mother’s mother. I was my wife’s husband and grandchild at the same time. And as the husband of a person’s grandmother is his grandfather, I was my own grandfather.” Thus he died, a martyr to his own existence.

85. If 100 stones are placed on the ground, in a straight line, at the distance of 1 yard from each other, how far will a person travel who will bring them all, one by one, to a basket placed one yard from the first stone?

A little boy, writing a composition on the zebra, was requested to describe the animal and to mention what it was useful for. After deep reflection, he wrote:--“The zebra is like a horse, only striped. It is chiefly useful to illustrate the letter Z.”

86. I bought a horse and sold him again at 5 per cent. on my purchase; now, if I had given 5 per cent. less for the horse, and sold him for 1s. less, I would have gained 10 per cent. What was the original cost?

87. Find three numbers such that the first with half of the other two, the second with one-third of the other two, and the third with one-fourth of the other two, shall be equal to 34?

THE FAMOUS “45” PUZZLE.

88. Take 45 from 45, and leave 45 as a remainder. There are at least two ways of doing this.

89. How can 45 be divided into 4 such parts that if you add 2 to the first part, subtract 2 from the second part, multiply the third part by 2, and divide the fourth part by 2, the sum of the addition, the remainder of the subtraction, the product of the multiplication, and the quotient of the division are equal?

90. The square of 45 is 2025, if we halve this we get 20/25 and 20 plus 25 equals 45. Find two other numbers of four figures that produce the same peculiarity.

91. A mother of a family being asked how many children she had, replied: “The joint ages of my husband and myself are at present six times the united ages of our children; two years ago their united ages were ten times less than ours, and in six years hence our joint ages will be three times theirs.” How many children had she?

WHERE THE CREEDS AGREE.

The Mahometans, Christians and Jews, with different creeds, are all striving to reach the same place--Heaven. Now, we will endeavour to show, by figures, that it is possible for them all to accomplish their purpose.

The figures 4, 5, 6, at the angles of the large triangle, represent respectively the above mentioned sects. They are very distant from each other, but we will induce them to meet half-way. Thus, the Mahometans and Jews meet at 10, the Mahometans and Christians at 9, and the Jews and Christians at 11; and by joining these totals to the opposite numbers we see they all meet at last in Heaven (15). It should be mentioned that any numbers whatever may be used to represent the sects, but the result will always be the same.

“SHE” ONCE MORE.

92. The country spark again addressed the charming “she.” This time he wished to know her height. She replied, “My height (in inches) if divided by the product of its digits, gives as quotient 2, and the digits are inverted by adding 27.”

“You have a bright look, my boy,” said the visitor at the school. “Yes, sir,” replied the candid youth; “that’s because I forgot to rinse the soap off my face this morning.”

HIS LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.

93. A father on his death-bed gave orders in his will that if his wife, who was then pregnant, brought forth a son, he should inherit two-thirds of his property, and the mother the remainder; but if she brought forth a daughter the latter should have only one-third, and the mother two-thirds. The widow, however, was delivered of twins,--a boy and a girl. What share ought each to have of the property left by the father, who had his life insured in the Australian Mutual Provident Society for £7,000.

94. Money lent at 6 per cent To those who choose to borrow; How long before I’m worth a pound If I lend a crown to-morrow?