Home › Appendix › The Barometer: Fifteen

The Barometer: Fifteen

Thirty Soldiers having deserted, so to place them in a Ring, that you may save any Fifteen you please, and it shall seem the Effect of Chance.

This recreation is usually proposed thus: Fifteen Christians and fifteen Turks being in a ship at sea, in a violent tempest, it was deemed necessary to throw half the number of persons overboard, in order to disburden the ship, and save the rest; to effect this, it was agreed to be done by lot, in such a manner, that the persons being placed in a ring, every ninth man should be cast into the sea, till one half of them were thrown overboard. Now, the pilot, being a Christian, was desirous of saving those of his own persuasion: how ought he therefore to dispose the crew, so that the lot might always fall upon the Turks?

This question may be resolved by placing the men according to the numbers annexed to the vowels in the words of the following verse :- Po-pu-le-am Jir-gam Ma-ter Re-gi-na fe-re-bat. 4521 31 12 231 221 from which it appears, that you must place four of those you would save first; then five of those you would punish. After this, two of those to be saved, and one to be punished; and so on. When this is done, you must enter the ring, and beginning with the first of the four men you intend to save, count on to nine; and turn this man out to be punished; then count on, in like manner, to the next ninth man, and turn him out to be punished; and so on for the rest.