Some time ago I asked one of the foremost Shakespearian scholars in the world if he had a copy of the "First Folio." His reply was that he could not afford it; that it would not be wise for him to lose $400 to $500 per year for the mere sake of ownership, when for a very slight expenditure for time and railway fare he could consult any one of half-a-dozen copies whenever he required to do so. ARITHMETICAL PUZZLES A good-sized volume might be filled with the various arithmetical puzzles which have been propounded. They range from a method of discovering the number which any one may think of to a solution of the "famous" question: "How old is Ann?" Of the following cases one may be considered a "catch" question, while the other is an interesting problem. A country woman, carrying eggs to a garrison where she had three guards to pass, sold at the first, half the number she had and half an egg more; at the second, the half of what remained and half an egg more; at the third the half of the remainder and half an egg more; when she arrived at the market-place she had three dozen still to sell. How was this possible without breaking any of the eggs? At first view, this problem seems impossible, for how can half an egg be sold without breaking any? But by taking the greater half of an odd number we take the exact half and half an egg more. If she had 295 eggs before she came to the first guard, she would there sell 148, leaving her 147. At the next she sold 74, leaving her 73. At the next she sold 37, leaving her three dozen. The second problem is as follows: After the Romans had captured Jotopat, Josephus and forty other Jews sought shelter in a cave, but the refugees were so frightened that, with the exception of Josephus himself and one other, they resolved to kill themselves rather than fall into the hands of their enemies. Failing to dissuade them from this horrid purpose, Josephus used his authority as their chief to insist that they put each other to death in an orderly manner. They were therefore arranged round a circle, and every third man was killed until but two men remained, the understanding being that they were to commit suicide. By placing himself and the other man in the 31st and 16th places, they were the last that were left, and in this way they escaped death. ARCHIMEDES AND HIS FULCRUM Next to that of Euclid, the name of Archimedes is probably that which is the best known of all the mathematicians and mechanics of antiquity, and this is in great part due to the two famous sayings which have been attributed to him, one being "Eureka"--"I have found it," uttered when he discovered the method now universally in use for finding the specific gravity of bodies, and the other being the equally famous dictum which he is said to have addressed to Hiero, King of Sicily,--"Give me a fulcrum and I will raise the earth from its place."