ew selected from a
number that have passed down to a surviving member of the family, who has
kindly allowed me to use them on this occasion. There are some very easy
ones, a few that are moderately difficult, and one hard brain-racker, so
all should be able to find something to their taste.

The little record is written in the neat angular hand of a young lady of
that day, and the puzzles, the conditions of which I think it best to
give mainly in my own words for the sake of greater clearness, appear to
have been all propounded on one occasion.

55.--_The Three Teacups._

[Illustration]

One young lady--of whom our fair historian records with delightful
inconsequence: "This Miss Charity Lockyer has since been married to a
curate from Taunton Vale"--placed three empty teacups on a table, and
challenged anybody to put ten lumps of sugar in them so that there would
be an odd number of lumps in every cup. "One young man, who has been to
Oxford University, and is studying the law, declared with some heat that,
beyond a doubt, there was no possible way of doing it, and he offered to
give proof of the fact to the company." It must have been interesting to
see his face when he was shown Miss Charity's correct answer.

56.--_The Eleven Pennies._

[Illustration]

A guest asked some one to favour him with eleven pennies, and he passed
the coins to the company, as depicted in our illustration. The writer
says: "He then requested us to remove five coins from the eleven, add
four coins and leave nine. We could not but think there must needs be ten
pennies left. We were a good deal amused at the answer hereof."

57.--_The Christmas Geese._

Squire Hembrow, from Weston Zoyland--wherever that may be--proposed the
following little arithmetical puzzle, from which it is probable that
several somewhat similar modern ones have been derived: Farmer Rouse sent
his man to market with a flock of geese, telling him that he might sell
all or any of them, as he considered best, for he was sure the man knew
how to make a good bargain. This is the report that Jabez made, though I
have taken it out of the old Somerset dialect, which might puzzle some
readers in a way not desired. "Well, first of all I sold Mr. Jasper
Tyler half of the flock and half a goose over; then I sold Farmer Avent a
third of what remained and a third of a goose over; then I sold Widow
Foster a quarter of what remained and three-quarters of a goose ov