Finally, it may be asked whether, in the case of horses having unequal chances, it is possible that wagers can be so proportioned (just odds being given and taken), that, as in the former case, a person backing or laying against all the four shall neither gain nor lose. It is so. All that is necessary is, that the sum actually pending about each horse shall be the same. Thus, in the preceding case, if the wagers 9_l._ to 6_l._, 10_l._ to 5_l._, 12_l._ to 3_l._, and 14_l._ to 1_l._, are either laid or taken by the same person, he will neither gain nor lose by the event, whatever it may be. And therefore, if unfair odds are laid or taken about all the horses, in such a manner that the amounts pending on the several horses are equal (or nearly so), the unfair bettor must win by the result. Say, for instance, that instead of the above odds, he lays 8_l._ to 6_l._, 9_l._ to 5_l._, 11_l._ to 3_l._ and 13_l._ to 1_l._, against the four horses respectively; it will be found that he _must_ win 1_l._ Or if he _takes_ the odds 18_l._ to 11_l._, 20_l._ to 9_l._, 24_l._ to 5_l._, and 28_l._ to 1_l._ (the just odds being 18_l._ to 12_l._, 20_l._ to 10_l._, 24_l._ to 6_l._, and 28_l._ to 2_l._ respectively), he will win 1_l._ by the race. So that, by giving or taking such odds to a sufficiently great amount, a bettor would be certain of pocketing a large sum, whatever the event of a given race might be. In every instance, a man who bets on a race _must risk his money_, unless he can succeed in taking unfair advantages over those with whom he bets. My readers will conceive how small must be the chance that an unpractised bettor will gain anything but dearly-bought experience by speculating on horse-races. I would recommend those who are tempted to hold another opinion to follow the plan suggested by Thackeray in a similar case—to take _a good look_ at professional and practised betting-men, and to decide ‘which of those men they are most likely to get the better of’ in turf transactions. (From _Chambers’s Journal_, July 1869.) FOOTNOTES: [17] The race (that of 1869) was one of the best ever rowed, and the time of the winners (Oxford) better than in any former race. [18] This article was written early in March 1868. _SQUARING THE CIRCLE._