Page:The Algebra of Mohammed Ben Musa (1831).djvu/79

 of which is two dirhems; you divide the small one by the great one, and the quotient is equal to half a dirhem; then the computation is this: Multiply thing and two dirhems by the quotient, that is a half. The then the computation is this: Multiply thing and two dirhems by the quotient, that is a half. The product is half a thing and one dirhem, equal to thing. Remove now half a dirhem on account of the half dirhem on the other side. The remainder is one dirhem, equal to half a thing. Double it: then you have thing, equal to two dirhems. This is one of the two numbers, and the other is four.

Instance: “You divide one dirhem amongst a certain number of men, which number is thing. Now you add one man more to them, and divide again one dirhem amongst them; the quota of each is then one-sixth of a dirhem less than at the first time.” Computation: You multiply the first number of men, which is thing, by the difference of the share for each of the other number. Then multiply the product by the first and second number of men, and divide the product by the