e and shape. This Fig. 9 is remarkable because,
according to Dr. Le Plongeon and others, as expounded in a work by
Professor Wilson of the Smithsonian Institute, here we have the great
Swastika, or sign, of "good luck to you "--the most ancient symbol of
the human race of which there is any record. Professor Wilson's work
gives some four hundred illustrations of this curious sign as found in
the Aztec mounds of Mexico, the pyramids of Egypt, the ruins of Troy,
and the ancient lore of India and China. One might almost say there is a
curious affinity between the Greek cross and Swastika! If, however, we
require that the four pieces shall be produced by only two clips of the
scissors (assuming the puzzle is in paper form), then we must cut as in
Fig. 10 to form Fig. 11, the first clip of the scissors being from a
to b. Of course folding the paper, or holding the pieces together
after the first cut, would not in this case be allowed. But there is an
infinite number of different ways of making the cuts to solve the puzzle
in four pieces. To this point I propose to return.

[Illustration: Fig. 6]

[Illustration: Fig. 7]

[Illustration: Fig. 8]

[Illustration: Fig. 9]

[Illustration: Fig. 10]

[Illustration: Fig. 11]

It will be seen that every one of these puzzles has its reverse
puzzle--to cut a square into pieces to form a Greek cross. But as a
square has not so many angles as the cross, it is not always equally
easy to discover the true directions of the cuts. Yet in the case of the
examples given, I will leave the reader to determine their direction for
himself, as they are rather obvious from the diagrams.

Cut a square into five pieces that will form two separate Greek crosses
of _different sizes_. This is quite an easy puzzle. As will be seen in
Fig. 12, we have only to divide our square into 25 little squares and
then cut as shown. The cross A is cut out entire, and the pieces B, C,
D, and E form the larger cross in Fig. 13. The reader may here like to
cut the single piece, B, into four pieces all similar in shape to
itself, and form a cross with them in the manner shown in Fig. 13. I
hardly need give the solution.

[Illustration: FIG. 12.]

[Illustration: FIG. 13.]

Cut a square into five pieces that will form two separate Greek crosses
of exactly the _same size_. This is more difficult. We make the cuts as
in Fig. 14, where the cross A comes out entire and the other four pieces
form the cross in Fig.