W il I 



W H 1 



""3 . But if the queftion had been, what it the pro- 



15875 



bability that fome other gamefter, the eldeft hand for in- 



ftance, has precifely IV trumps ? The anfwer, Table II., is 



104898 



476260' 



2. To find the chance of the dealer's not having fewer 

 than IV trumps: add his chances to take o, I, II, which 



are 39108, 201127, 41959^! ^""^ '^^^'r 1""" ^5?8/' 

 taken from the denominator 1587534, and the remainder 

 made its numerator, the probabihty of the dealer having 



IV or more trumps will be ^I^= ^5, a little above 



■1-. The wager, therefore, that the dealer has not IV 



12 



trumps, is fo far from equal, that whoever lays it throws 



away above — of his ftake. 



But if the wager is that the dealer has not V trumps> 

 then 466213 (the chances of his having III befides the 

 trump card) is to be added to the chanceS for o, I, II ; 

 which will make the chance of him who lays this wager to 



be nearly —~ ; and that of his adverfary 



455 ^^55 



And hence, if wagers are laid that the dealer has not 

 IV trumps, and has not V trumps, alternately ; the ad- 

 vantage of him who lays in this manner will be nearly 1 1^ 

 per cent, of hio ftakes. 



3. To find the odds of laying that the eldeft hand has at 

 leaft III, and at leaft IV trumps, alternately; the nu- 

 merator of the one expeftation is (by Table II.) 31501119, 

 and of the other 17514720, to the denominator 47626017 ; 



whence the advantage of the bet will be — , or three per 



tent, nearly. 



Again, if it is laid that the trumps in the dealer's hand 

 fhall be either I, II, III, or VI ; the difadvantage of this 

 bet will be only 1 5^. 4J. or about ^ per cent. 



In like manner, the odds of any propofed bet of this 

 kind may be computed : and from the numbers in the 

 tables, and their combinations, different bets may be 

 found which (hall approach to the ratio of equality ; or 

 if they differ from it, other bets may be afligned, which, 

 repeated a certain number of times, fhall balance that 

 difference. 



4. And if the bet includes any other condition befides 

 the number of trumps, fuch as the quality of one or 

 more of them ; then proper regard is to be had to that 

 reftriftion. 



Let ihe wager be that the eldeft has IV trumps dealt 

 him ; and that two of them fhall be the ace and king. 

 The probabihty of his having IV trumps precifely is, by 



Table II., , ■ • and the different fours in 12 cards 

 476200 



are — x — x — -x — . But becaufe 2 out of the 12 

 1234 



trumps are fpecified, all the combinations of 4 in 12 that 

 are favourable to the wager, are reduced to the different 

 twos that are found in the remaining 10 cards, which 



are — X — • And this number is to the former &» i to 



3 * 

 1 1 : the probability, therefore, is reduced by this reftric- 



tion to — , of what elfe it had been : that is, it is re- 

 II 



duced from near — to about — . De Moivre's Doftrine 



5 52 



of Chances, p. 172, &c. ed. 3d. 



WHISTLE, Boatswain's. See Call. 



WHisTLE-i^if/5, a name given by the people of Cornwall 

 to a fpecies of gadus, with only two fins on the back, 

 otherwife called mujiela JluviatUis. See Gadus, and 



MUSTBLA. 



WHISTON, William, M.A. in Biography, an Englidt 

 divine and mathematician, was the fon of the reftor of 

 Norton near Twycrofs, in Leicefterlhire, and born in the 

 year 1667. He finifhed his education as a fizer at Clare- 

 hall, Cambridge, applying with great dihgence to the ftudy 

 of mathematics, and compofing devout meditations corre- 

 fponding to the early bent of his difpofition. Having alfo 

 received the degree of B.A. in 1690, and being elefted 

 fellow of his college, he took pupils ; and in 1 693 became 

 M.A. and entered into holy orders. Soon afterwards he 

 dechned the oftice of tutor, and was appointed chaplain 

 to Dr. More, bi(hop of Norwich. His acquaintance 

 with fir Ifaac Newton commenced in 1694, and produced 

 a change in his philofophical fyftem, from that of Des 

 Cartes to that of Newton. On the principles of this phi- 

 lofophy, he publifhed, in 1696, his " Theory of the Earth," 

 which was refuted by Keill. Having been prefented by 

 his patron, the bifhop, to the living of Loweftofft in Suffolk, 

 he refigned his chaplainrtiip, and in order fully to dilcharge 

 his religious duties procured the afliftance of a curate. Of 

 his invincible and moral fcrupulous integrity, he gave an 

 early inllance by refufing his vote to a perfon who follcited 

 a fellowftiip of Clare-hall, and who had abandoned the bac- 

 chanalian party with which he was connefted, and which 

 he apprehended to be the moft powerful, and promifed 

 future fobriety ; and giving this reafon for his refufal : 

 " Sir, you have confeffed that you facrificcd your integrity 

 to your preferment, and thereby have made it impoffible 

 for me to ferve you." Being obliged to vacate his fellow- 

 ftiip by marriage, fir Ifaac Newton nominated him his 

 deputy as profeffor of mathematics, allowing him all the 

 profits of the office ; and in 1 703 he furrendered to him the 

 profefforfhip itfelf. Upon this acceffion, he refigned his 

 living, fettled at Cambridge, and was appointed by Dr. 

 More, bifhop of Ely, catechetical leAurer of St. Clement's. 

 Having already publilhed " A Short View of the Chrono- 

 logy of the Old Teftament, and the Harmony of the Four 

 Evangelifts," and " Tacquet's Euclid," he prefented to the 

 public in 1706 his " Effay on the Revelation of St. John;" 

 and in the following year he preached the Boyle's lec- 

 ture fermon on the fubjeft of the " Accomplifhment of 

 Scripture Prophecies." In the year 1 706 he began to enter- 

 tain doubts concerning the divinity of Chnft, and in the pro- 

 fecution of his inquiries he was led to adopt Arian opinions, 

 which were further confirmed by the perufal of the " Apof- 

 toHcal Conftitutions," reckoned fpurious by moft writers, 

 but pronounced by Whiilon to be " the moft facred of the 

 canonical books of the New Teftament." In 1708 he 

 offered an " Effay on the Apoftolical Conftitutions" to be 

 printed at the Univerfity prefs, but it was rejefted ; how- 

 ever, in 1709, he pubhfhed fermons and effays fupporting 

 thefe opinions. His invincible perfeverancc caufed him to be 



deprived 



