Twice the half of 1½? Ask your friends--it bothers them. The Problem Easily Solved. “Do you see that row of poplars on the other bank standing apparently at equal distances apart?” asked a grave-faced man of a group of people standing by a river. The group nodded assent. “Well, there’s quite a story connected with those trees,” he continued. “Some years ago there lived in a house overlooking the river a very wealthy banker, whose only daughter was beloved by a young surveyor. The old man was inclined to question the professional skill of the young rod and level, and to put him to the test directed him to set out on the river shore a row of trees, no two of which should be any further apart than any other two. The trial proved the lover’s inefficiency, and forthwith he was forbidden the house, and in despair drowned himself in the river. Perhaps some of you gentlemen with keen eyes can tell me which two trees are furthest apart?” The group took a critical view of the situation, and each member selected a different pair of trees. Finally, after much discussion, an appeal was made to the solemn-faced stranger to solve the problem. “The first and the last,” said he, calmly, resuming his cigar and walking away with the air of a sage. 136. Twice five of us are eight of us, and two of us are three, And three of us are five of us--now how can all this be? If that does not puzzle you I’ll tell you one thing more: Eight of us are five of us and five of us are four. “EXPRESSIONAL” MEASURES. The table of measures says that 3 barleycorns make 1 inch--and so they do. When the standards of measures were first established 3 barleycorns, well-dried, were taken out and laid end to end, and measured an inch. The “hairbreadth” now used indefinitely for infinitesimal space, was a regular measure, 16 hairs laid side by side equalling 1 barleycorn. The expression “in a trice,” as everyone knows, means a very short space of time. The hour is divided into 60 minutes, the minute into 60 seconds, and the second into 60 “trices.” A CHALLENGE. 137. A lady belonging to the W.C.T.U. was endeavouring to persuade a gentleman friend of hers to give up the drink; he replied, “I will sign the pledge if you tell me how many glasses of beer did I drink to-day if the difference between their number and the number of times the square root of their number is contained in 2 be equal to 3.” MEMORY SYSTEM. TEACHER--“In what year was the battle of Waterloo fought?” PUPIL--“I don’t know.” TEACHER--“It’s simple enough if you only would learn how to cultivate artificial memory. Remember the twelve apostles. Add half their number to them. That’s eighteen. Multiply by a hundred. That’s eighteen hundred. Take the twelve apostles again. Add a quarter of their number to them. That’s fifteen. Add to what you’ve got. That’s 1815. That’s the date. Quite simple, you see, to remember dates if you will only adopt my system.” A GLOBE TROTTER.