The Canterbury Puzzles, and Other Curious ProblemsDudeney, Henry Ernest
Science
The Canterbury Puzzles, and Other Curious Problems
Dudeney, Henry Ernest
Puzzles; Riddles
The correct answer is shown in the illustration on page 196. No tile is
in line (either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) with another
tile of the same design, and only three plain tiles are used. If after
placing the four lions you fall into the error of placing four other
tiles of another pattern, instead of only three, you will be left with
four places that must be occupied by plain tiles. The secret consists in
placing four of one kind and only three of each of the others.
[Illustration]
44.--_The Riddle of the Sack of Wine._
The question was: Did Brother Benjamin take more wine from the bottle
than water from the jug? Or did he take more water from the jug than wine
from the bottle? He did neither. The same quantity of wine was
transferred from the bottle as water was taken from the jug. Let us
assume that the glass would hold a quarter of a pint. There was a pint of
wine in the bottle and a pint of water in the jug. After the first
manipulation the bottle contains three-quarters of a pint of wine, and
the jug one pint of water mixed with a quarter of a pint of wine. Now,
the second transaction consists in taking away a fifth of the contents of
the jug--that is, one-fifth of a pint of water mixed with one-fifth of a
quarter of a pint of wine. We thus leave behind in the jug four-fifths of
a quarter of a pint of wine--that is, one-fifth of a pint--while we
transfer from the jug to the bottle an equal quantity (one-fifth of a
pint) of water.
45.--_The Riddle of the Cellarer._
There were 100 pints of wine in the cask, and on thirty occasions John
the Cellarer had stolen a pint and replaced it with a pint of water.
After the first theft the wine left in the cask would be 99 pints; after
the second theft the wine in the cask would be 9801/100 pints (the square
of 99 divided by 100); after the third theft there would remain
970299/10000 (the cube of 99 divided by the square of 100); after the
fourth theft there would remain the fourth power of 99 divided by the
cube of 100; and after the thirtieth theft there would remain in the cask
the thirtieth power of 99 divided by the twenty-ninth power of 100. This
by the ordinary method of calculation gives us a number composed of 59
figures to be divided by a number composed of 58 figures! But by the use
of logarithms it may be quickly ascertained that the required quantity is
very nearly 73-97/100 pints of wine left in the cask. Consequently the
cellarer stole nearly 26.03 pints. The monks doubtless omitted the answer
for the reason that they had no tables of logarithms, and did not care to
face the task of making that long and tedious calculation in order to get
the quantity "to a nicety," as the wily cellarer had stipulated.
By a simplified process of calculation, I have ascertained that the exact
quantity of wine stolen would be
26.0299626611719577269984907683285057747323737647323555652999
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