Ask a person to think of any number on the dial of a clock; you then
point, promiscuously at the various numbers, telling the person to
add the number of times you point to the number he thought of, and
when the total reaches 20, you will be pointing at the number he
selected.
For instance, suppose he selected the number 5. You point
indifferently 7 times at the various numbers, but the 8th time your
pointer must be at XII., his addition will then be 13 (for 5 and 8
added equal 13), the next at XI., his addition then 14, next at X.,
and so on. When he calls 20, you will be pointing at the number he
thought of--5.
[Illustration]
A very amusing experiment is to ask a person to write down the
figures around the dial of a clock. Nearly all know that the figures
are generally the Roman numerals; but, in writing them down, when
they come to the four, it is very often written IV. instead of IIII.
It is said that a certain king, being unable to find any other fault
in a clock that had been constructed for him, declared that the
figure four should be represented by four strokes (IIII) instead
of IV. In vain did the clock-maker point out the mistake, for his
majesty adhered obstinately to his own opinion, and angrily ordered
the alteration to be made. This was done, and the precedent thus
formed has been followed by clockmakers ever since.
52. At dinner table: one great grandfather, 2 grandfathers, 1
grandmother, 3 fathers, 2 mothers, 4 children, 3 grandchildren,
1 great grandchild, 3 sisters, 1 brother, 2 husbands, 2 wives, 1
mother-in-law, 1 father-in-law, 2 brothers-in-law, 3 sisters-in-law,
2 uncles, 3 aunts, 1 nephew, 2 nieces, and 2 cousins. How many
persons?
“Can February March?” he asked.
“No, but April May,” was the reply.
“Look here, old man, you are out of June.”
“Don’t July about it.”
“It is not often one gets the better of your August personage.”
“Ha! now you have me Noctober.”
And then there was work for the coroner.