me) of cards. The professor lost the first game, which resulted in
doubling the money that both Mr. and Mrs. Potts had laid on the table.
The second game was lost by Mrs. Potts, which doubled the money then
held by her husband and the professor. Curiously enough, the third game
was lost by Mr. Potts, and had the effect of doubling the money then
held by his wife and the professor. It was then found that each person
had exactly the same money, but the professor had lost five shillings in
the course of play. Now, the professor asks, what was the sum of money
with which he sat down at the table? Can you tell him?

120.--THE FARMER AND HIS SHEEP.

[Illustration]

Farmer Longmore had a curious aptitude for arithmetic, and was known in
his district as the "mathematical farmer." The new vicar was not aware
of this fact when, meeting his worthy parishioner one day in the lane,
he asked him in the course of a short conversation, "Now, how many sheep
have you altogether?" He was therefore rather surprised at Longmore's
answer, which was as follows: "You can divide my sheep into two
different parts, so that the difference between the two numbers is the
same as the difference between their squares. Maybe, Mr. Parson, you
will like to work out the little sum for yourself."

Can the reader say just how many sheep the farmer had? Supposing he had
possessed only twenty sheep, and he divided them into the two parts 12
and 8. Now, the difference between their squares, 144 and 64, is 80. So
that will not do, for 4 and 80 are certainly not the same. If you can
find numbers that work out correctly, you will know exactly how many
sheep Farmer Longmore owned.

121.--HEADS OR TAILS.

Crooks, an inveterate gambler, at Goodwood recently said to a friend,
"I'll bet you half the money in my pocket on the toss of a coin--heads I
win, tails I lose." The coin was tossed and the money handed over. He
repeated the offer again and again, each time betting half the money
then in his possession. We are not told how long the game went on, or
how many times the coin was tossed, but this we know, that the number of
times that Crooks lost was exactly equal to the number of times that he
won. Now, did he gain or lose by this little venture?

122.--THE SEE-SAW PUZZLE.

Necessity is, indeed, the mother of invention. I was amused the other
day in watching a boy who wanted to play see-saw and, in his failure to
find another child to share the sport