I/O THE SEVEN FOLLIES OF SCIENCE 



His reply was that he could not afford it ; that it would 

 not be wise for him to lose $400 to $500 per year for the 

 mere sake of ownership, when for a very slight expenditure 

 for time and railway fare he could consult any one of half- 

 a-dozen copies whenever he required to do so. 



ARITHMETICAL PUZZLES 



GOOD-SIZED volume might be filled with the 

 various arithmetical puzzles which have been 

 propounded. They range from a method of 

 discovering the number which any one may 

 think of to a solution of the "famous" question: "How 

 old is Ann ? " Of the following cases one may be con- 

 sidered a " catch " question, while the other is an interest- 

 ing problem, 



A country woman, carrying eggs to a garrison where 

 she had three guards to pass, sold at the first, half the 

 number she had and half an egg more ; at the second, the 

 half of what remained and half an egg more ; at the third 

 the half of the remainder and half an egg more ; when she 

 arrived at the market-place she had three dozen still to 

 sell. How was this possible without breaking any of the 

 eggs ? 



At first view, this problem seems impossible, for how 

 can half an egg be sold without breaking any ? But by 

 taking the greater half of an odd number we take the 

 exact half and half an egg more. If she had 295 eggs 

 before she came to the first guard, she would there sell 

 148, leaving her 147. At the next she sold 74, leaving 

 her 73. At the next she sold 37, leaving her three dozen. 



