MISCELLANEOUS PUZZLES
108.—
Plato and the Nines.
Both in ancient and in modern times the number nine has been
considered to possess peculiarly mystic qualities. We know, for
instance, that there were nine Muses, nine rivers of Hades, and
that Vulcan was nine days falling down from Heaven. Then it has
been confidently
held that nine
tailors make a
man; while we
know that there
are nine planets,
nine days' won-
ders, and that a
cat has nine lives
—and sometimes
nine tails.
Most people are
acquainted with
some of the curious
properties of the
number nine in
ordinary arith-
metic. For exam-
ple, write down a number containing as many figures as you like,
add these figures together, and deduct the sum from the first number.
Now, the sum of the figures in this new number will always be a
multiple of nine.
There was once a worthy man at Athens who was not only a
cranky arithmetician, but also a mystic. He was deeply convinced
of the magic properties of the number nine, and was perpetually
strolling out to the groves of Academia to bother poor old Plato with
his nonsensical ideas about what he called his " lucky number." But
Plato devised a way of getting rid of him. When the seer one day
proposed to inflict on him a lengthy disquisition on his favourite topic,
the philosopher cut him short with the remark, " Look here, old
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