THK TOUNG SCIENTIST. 
61 
A New Puzzle for Young Folks. 
Since the ingeuuity and mathiniiatical skill of 
the wliole country were so severely taxed by 
the fifteen puzzle, with its curious and perplex- 
ing combinations, there has been a flood of simi- 
lar contrivances, which have excited more or 
less interest, but all have fallen far short of the 
success attained by the pioneer in that line of 
amusement. The latest invention is the Nine- 
Letter Puzzle, and it bids fair to rival in diffi- 
culties the best of those that have gone before. 
The inventor, Mr. Sidney A. Phillips, as long 
ago as the winter of 1880, had perfected the 
combination of letters essential to the complete- 
ness of his puzzle, but he was only recently 
prevailed upon by his friends to have it copy- 
righted. The following diagram will convey an 
accurate idea of the arrangement of this puz- 
zle: 
p 
L. 
0 
c 
I 
A 
D 
Y 
Each one of tlie nine letters above is printed 
on a small square block of wood, and to solve 
the puzzle it is necessary so to arrange these 
letters that they will form one complete square, 
having three letters on each side, and while con- 
stituting such a squnre the nine letters must 
also form eight different and distinct English 
words that can be found in a standard diction - 
avy. These words cannot, of course, contain 
more than three nor less than two letters, and 
they must not read from the right to the left. 
The combinations must be made from top to 
bottom, vertically ; from left to right horizon- 
tally, and from left to right diagonally. 
For example, using the letters as they are 
printed in the diagram a bove, without any in- 
tention of spelling actual words, the following 
would be legitimate combinations: PLO CIA 
DYE, PCD, LIY, OAR, PIR, DIG, LA, CL, CY,' 
YA, making in all only twelve possible combi- 
nations under the rules governing the solution 
of the puzzle. RIP, OLP, AY and others made 
from the right would not be allowable. 
It can readily be seen that the solution of this 
puzzle under these conditions must be attended 
by no inconsiderable difficulties, and as tlie diffi- 
culties it presents can safely be taken as a meas- 
ure of the success a puzzle will have, it does 
not seem rash to predict that the nine-letter 
puzzle wiU arouse no little interest. 
In conversing about the obstacles he has had 
to overcome before reaching this final combina- 
tion of letters, the inventor saitl that he devoted 
four months to the perfection of his plan. At 
first he tried but six letters, and then eight, and 
even when he had settled upon nine as the 
proper number, it seemed to him that five was 
as large a number of words as could be formed 
out of them. At last he struck upon the nine 
letters that constitute his puzzle, and is con- 
vinced by his numerous experiments and the 
efforts made by friends to solve it, that it is the 
most complete set possible. 
One solution that has several times been 
reached contains seven words, and falls one 
short of the requisite number by an infringe- 
ment of the rules governing the puzzle. After 
the seventh word there is something very like a 
big ''if" left, v^^hich may or may not be con- 
strued into a hint. 
A Lamprey's Nest. 
One day late in spring, as I was passing over 
a bridge, I chanced to see two lampreys, or 
" lamper-eels,'' as they are usually called, en- 
gaged in building their nest in the creek below 
me. It was one of the most curious spectacles 
I ever saw in our stream. They were a few 
yards below the bridge, just where the water 
breaks from the still pool beneath it, and flows 
with a rapid current over its roughly paved 
l)ottom. They were distinguishable from the 
yellowish brown and black stones and pebbles 
amid which they were Avorking only by their 
motions. They were tugging away at the 
small movable stones with great persistence. 
I went down to the water's edge where they 
were within the reach of my staft", the better to 
observe them. They would run up to the edge 
of the still water and seize upon the stones with 
their suction mouth and drag them back with 
the current and drop them upon their nest. I 
understood at once why their nests, which I had 
often observed befoi-e, were always placed at 
the l>eginning of a rift; it is that the fish may 
avail themselves of the current in building 
them. The water sweeps them back with the 
pebble in their mouth, their only effort being in 
stemming the current to seize it. They are 
thus enabled to move stones which they could 
not stir in still water. 
The stones varied in size from a walnut to a 
goose egg. When one of them Avas tugging away 
at a stone too h<m,vy for it, I Avould lend a help- 
ing hand with my staff; I would moA^e the 
stone along gently, and the lamprey seemed 
