204 



"How much time, in the course of thirty years, 

 does a person gain, who rises at six o^clock in 

 the morning, foyer another who sleeps till nine ; 

 supposing that the former goes to bed at eleven, 

 and the latter. at midnight ? 



There is a cistern in this house, which contains 

 180 gallons of water : it is supplied by a feeding 

 pipe, which admits 15 gallons in ten minutes ; 

 and the tap, or discharging pipe, lets off 12 

 gallons in six minutes. Now suppose, when 

 the cistern was exactly half full, that both cocks 

 were opened, and that, at the end of an hour 

 afterwards, the tap-cock was shut : in what time 

 will the cistern be filled ? 



. Herodotus mentions a brass vessel, that was 

 shown in Scythia in his time, which was six 

 digits in thickness, and contained GOO amphora, 

 or about 4300 gallons. It had been made 

 of arrow points, collected by the king from 

 his subjects, in order to ascertain their num- 

 ber each individual being obliged to bring 

 one. Such a vessel would be 11 or 12 feet in 

 diameter ; and, from the thickness of the metal, 

 must have weighed about 71,000 pounds troy. 

 Now, if each arrow point was half an ounce, the 

 question is Of how many fighting men could 

 the Scythian monarch boast ? for it is not pro- 

 bable that the women and children were included 

 in that kind of warlike census. 



My uncle was pleased at the efforts I made, 



