Page:Smith - Number Stories of Long ago (1919).djvu/72

OF LONG AGO Tens UnitsTransparent square.svg UnitsTransparent square.svgeds Tens UnitsNumber Stories, p49-illustration.png Fourth StepTransparent square.svg StepTransparent square.svg Step HOW CAIUS ADDED WITH PEBBLES After the Third Step, as shown on page 48, Caius added 2 pebbles to the tens’ line because of the XX in XXII, as shown in the Fourth Step. He then added 3 more because of the XXX in CXXXVIIII, as shown in the Fifth Step. Finally he drew a line for hundreds, and on this he placed one pebble because of the C in CXXXVIIII. His answer was CLXI

Of course Caius spoke Latin, and so he did not use the word “pebble,” but used the Latin word calculus (kăl'kṹ lŭs), which means “pebble.” So instead of saying that Caius pebbled the answer, we say that he calculated it, using a word that sounds more like Latin, and so we see what our words “calculate” and “calculation” originally meant. 49