248 METHOD OF SECRET WRITING. 



figure l, next that oppofite to figure 2, and fo on to thirty 

 he will then bring down the rule, and proceed in the fame 

 manner with the fucceeding lines. 



o 



Example. Example. Suppofe this to be the fecret to be fent. 



Uefcadre mettra A la voile ait premier vent favorable ; elle fe 



rendra a Toulon, ouje lui enverrai des ordres idtirieurs. 



Suppofe the feries of the fcale employed (liould be this, 



2. 4.6.8. 10. 12. 14. 16. 18.20.22.24.26.28.30. 1.3.5.7. 



9. 11. 13. 15. 17. 19.21.23.25.27.29. 



The anagrammatic writing or tranfpofition of the fecret, 



will be ; 



+ + . ++ ++ 



lecde e ta lvi e u r meL's a r mtra a ol ape ii 



+ ++ ■ + + + 



lvnfv r be; le e e d a Ture t a oale 1 sr nra ol 



+ + +++ + + 



loojl ine ri e o d e u t 1 n, u e uevr a ds rrs ll 



lrer € i u s. 1 



Obfervalions. 

 The comblna- 1. If we wifh to form a notion of the fecurity of this men- 



tions to be de- t j 10( j j e t us confider what a geometer mull do who undertakes 

 cyphered in one * ° 



fingle line, are to explain the fecret. 



wany ™ Hl0ns Every line contains a number of combinations, expreffed by 



of millions, . . _ r . . . • r 



the product or the numbers 1. 2. 3 to 30. that is to lay, 



a number expreffed by 265 followed by 30 cyphers. This 

 number of anagrams is equal to that of the grains of fand which 

 would encircle the whole world, fuppofing each grain to be 

 lefs than one hundredth of an inch in diameter. This, with- 

 out doubt, is more than fufficient to difcourage the moft per- 

 fevering Newton, and it muft be acknowledged that the dif- 

 ficulty may be confidered as an abfolute impoffibility. 

 and they are But this is not all, after the labour of a multitude of ages, 



all together 3 ^ tn ' s g eometer would be no farther advanced ; for among the 

 infinity of combinations produced from the thirty letters of 

 one line of the fecret, he would find an innumerable mul- 

 titude that might yield a rational meaning, and by what 

 means would he be able to difcover which of them the author 

 of the fecret had in view ? In fhort, what muft be the diffi- 

 culty where it becomes neceflary thus to combine all the lines 

 of the fecret at the fame time ? Here the imagination is loft. 

 This method is 2. In the event of many correfpondents, it would be eafy 



adapted to f or ^ greater fecurity to agree upon a different feries with 



numerous cor- , . ° .. , . J . ° r _ \ . . . . . 



respondents. -each, if the fcale is made of pafteboard, it may be marked 



with 



