CYPHER. 
hended, it will be easy to deduce the me- 
thojls of communicatin" inteHigence by 
combinatious, either contemporaneous or 
successive, of .torches, tires, rockets, or tlve 
sounds of bells, trumpets, cannon, and other 
suitable instruments. 
The number of contrivances which have 
been, or may be adopted for the convey- 
ance of secret intelliffcnce seem cni)abie ot 
unlimited variation, according to the acute- 
ness of the contrivers. Pantomimic signs 
and gestures are ])ractised by every one, 
and are usually carried to such an extent, 
that we forget that the performers in this de- 
scription of comedy have no oral communi- 
cation. The expedients of a knotted sti ing, 
which, when stretched out, shall apply to let- 
ters or words upon a guage possessed by the 
receiver : the scytale of Lysander, or slip 
of- parchment, containing writing which 
became legible when wrapped round a 
staff'; the elaborate invention of Hystiac- 
ns, who pretended to cure a servant of 
sore eyes by shaving his head, and vviiting 
his secret upon the scalp with a scarifying 
instrument, after wliich, tiie man being 
confined till his hair had grown, this extra- 
ordinary epistle became in a fit state to be 
forwarded along with its bearer to the place 
of destination. These, and many others of 
sufficient note in history, as well as the 
events of common life among smugglers and 
other.', manifest a variety of instances of 
the secret conveyance of small parcels, 
such as parchment, paper, cambric, lace, 
and the like. A pye, or a bottle of wine 
or beer, small casks of pickles or provision ; 
■the interior, of the construction of saddles, 
of shoes, or other parts of wearing apparel; 
a false skin laced upon a dog.; the intestines 
of a living animal or of .the human subject 
■employed in swallowing a small receptacle, 
cotitainins a letter, to be afterward.s eva- 
cuated.— Tins short list of vehicles may 
point out how extensive the general means 
of secret communication may be made. 
We shall conclude the present article, 
which would require a volume to do it jus- 
tice; by mentioning two other modes of 
communication with a considerable degree 
ofsecresy, though tliey are perhaps liable 
to the objection of slowness in the writing. 
The first consists in the use of a dictionary, 
o-r -other work, which must be paged through- 
ont, and, if convenient, the lines should be 
counted ; but this last necessity may be 
supplied by means of a scale, or slip of 
parchment, with lines and numbers from 
top. to bottom, which may be applied to 
any page when wanted for readily counting 
the lines. The correspondents being each 
provided with the same edition of the same 
work, the writer is to complete his letter in 
the usual manner ; but instead of sending 
off that copy, he sends another, wherein, 
instead of the words, he writes for each the 
page, line, and mimeric.il situation in the 
line, of each word. The correspondent 
will therefore discover them by seeking in 
his dictionary, or printed w'ork. It will 
easily be seen that this metliod amounts to 
the same thing, as if an index lociipletissi- 
miis were made of the author to tlie mimite- 
ness here mentioned, and one ot the nume- 
ral indications were to be put down in each 
instance instead of the word itself. Ihe 
other method consists in the use of a piece 
of parchment, ruled with lines correspond- 
ing with other lines upon the paper upon 
wiiich the letter is to be written. Holes 
ai e cut through the parchment here and 
there upon the lines. The p'.irclnnent tines 
prepared being laid upim the paper, the 
letter is to be written through the lioles ; 
after which the paper is to be uncovered, 
and the remaining spaces between the 
words fiiled vvitli other ntatter, so as to make 
a signilicant letter. The true letter can 
therefore only be read by a correspondent 
in possession of a parchment exactly like 
the original. 
Upon this contrivance it may be remark- 
ed, that it is crude and inartificial ; and 
that it supposes the writer to possess suf- 
ficient ingenuity and talent to make a ra- 
tional and clear letter by filling the spaces, 
and also that he lots so much command and 
management of his pen, as that the , secret 
words shall not be discovered by some 
crookedness in the line, crowding of the 
space, difiference in tlie pen or ink, or some 
other circumstance attendant on the writ- 
ing. In the event of these or any other- 
failure, the letter will be liable to suspi- 
cion. It is true, nevertheless, that the 
method of writing by interposed words 
may be rendered less objectionable by 
placing the significant parts at certain inter- 
vals among the others ; not by measure, 
but by reckoning from the beginning, ac- 
cording to some agreed rule ; and in this 
method the objections with regard to pen- 
manship will be done away by writing the 
letter over again, after it has been once 
completed. 
The method of secret writing by trans- 
parent or invisible inks, lias been little used 
in real business, and is entitled te no con-; 
