306 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



And here a certain nicety in betting has to be men- 

 tioned. In running the eye down the list of odds, one 

 will often meet such expressions as 10 to 1 against 

 such a horse offered, or 10 to 1 wanted. Now, the 

 odds of 10 to 1 taken may be understood to imply that 

 the horse's chance is equivalent to that of drawing a 

 certain ball out of a bag of eleven. But if the odds 

 are offered and not taken, we cannot infer this. The 

 offering of the odds implies that the horse's chance is 

 not letter than that above mentioned, but the fact that 

 they are not taken implies that the horse's chance is 

 not so good. If no higher odds are offered against the 

 horse, we may infer that his chance is very little worse 

 than that mentioned above. Similarly, if the odds of 

 10 to 1 are asked for, we infer that the horse's chance 

 is not worse than that of drawing one ball out of 

 eleven ; if the odds are not obtained, we infer that his 

 chance is "better ; and if no lower odds are asked for, 

 we infer that his chance is very little letter. 



Thus, there might be three horses (A, B, and C) 

 against whom the nominal odds were 10 to 1, and yet 

 these horses might not be equally good favorites, be- 

 cause the odds might not be taken, or might be asked 

 for in vain. We might accordingly find three such 

 horses arranged thus : 



Odds. 



A . . . 10 to 1 (wanted). 



13 . . . 10 to 1 (taken). 



. . . 10 to 1 (offered). 



