Page:Cyclopedia of Puzzles by Samuel Loyd.pdf/18

 THRE IS ONE OF THE old-time problems of our great - grand - daddies which has been passed down through successive generations without any one's having the temerity to question the correctness of the accepted answer which is that "a pound is a pound the world over." It recently so happened, however, that a little boy from Boston, who was a juvenile puzzlist, had the antique gem sprung upon him and gave an answer which took the wind out of the sails of his doting old grandfather.

Of course, you have asked and been asked so often regarding the difference between six doz. Pounds of feathers and half a dozen pounds of gold, that the answer comes spontaneously without a moment's hesitation, and yet, if the question is asked with all seriousness, with prizes for the best explanations just to encourage correct work, it is safe to say that it will he discovered that no one has really attempted to prove the old problem since its first appearance in 1614.

Now what is the difference in weight between six dozen dozen pounds of feathers and half a dozen dozen pounds of gold?

Now, in this particular case, I searched through the musty corners of my brain to select a few antique illustrations, with a rich chestnutty flavor, to revive, or rather arouse that interest which one of those good old familiar puzzles never fails to elicit and which are often associated with pleasant memories of the long ago. My object, however, was also to show that by giving a new set of teeth to some of these old saws, to prove that their sharpness has been overlooked by many of our puzzlists, in this as well as in other instances which will be mentioned.