Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-01-24
A Bulge, of Paradoxes.

o.itions % queries, oi which TIE otJfe
is 10 puzzle the Wit. " the unssiy listen
80. or 20 bssuile him into giving "A Ab
sard reply. Many Of these ATE very OLD
aud ,ome ate excellent. Instances wi
readily occur. Who for example. h.'
no, ~ some period In bis existence. 6ee'
..ksd the follo- sing question III soo''
weighs ten pound. and a half ia OFT
wsishi. ~hs, !, the ~,ishi u the goose ?
AID Who ha, no, b,sn tempted - rsPy
on the Instant. fifteen pounds '--,hs Cot
rect answer btins. of eoare, twenty
pound, lnds,d. /, !. astonishing ~h.
very simple query will sometime, e.iss
= wis. man n.ppias. Even The iollo"
ins have been krovn 20 ,uecttd.
"How many day. would !, take 10 eu
up . piece Of cloth fity yard, loas. oh'
yard bsisg Gu, oG every day
Of again
"a ,aan. climbing up p3s, isea'!
feet hish, ascend. f,e fee, every DAY sa1
lip. down four feet every might, Hos
loss will ID, .h,il take TO reach the 'oi
ofiks pos,''
Or again:
~ vi.e man havins = -iado~ oh'
yard high and ons yard vide, AMI ftqaif'
ins moi. light. snlsrs,d bis ~ihdos 8,
twice h, former ,ifs; ys, the ~iadoN
vn ,,ill oaly oae yard hish aud one lA'd
vide. Hos wAs ihi, done
Thi, catch question IN gcomsify
a. the preceding ~sfs catch questions u
Arihms,ie-,hs vindov tsiog dismond
,h.psd a, ff,i. .nd .i,,rvard' made
square. A,io the two ioImsr. perhaps q
i, scarcely necessary seriously to Poia'
ou, that the answer 10 the frat i' not any
days. bu, for,y.nine aud 10 the 'seohd
10, t~sniy day, bat 'iSisea-'lses ,t'
snail Who gaia, one foot each day i't h''
teen day, climb. on the 'iSisshih day 10
the top Of the pole. snd there remains.
Such example. are plsn,lfal. And o,ea'
.ionllly both euriOg, aud smu.Iag. Ba'
the parpo,s u the following paper - TO
Illustrate . class Of problem, o. rather .
didsrn, Kind. There ate ceiiaia pto5.
lem, which ars ia 20 way catch questions
(.ny problem involving = msrr ''ieiI
qaibbl, y Of eoars oai q c)lti by r'
own inra,e ,.lsn,-). Ind which. though
a, h,, ,ish, extremely simple. often re'
qaire considerable inssnaiiy TO Arrivs al
eou,c, result. Take ior example The fol'
losing
"a man walk, fognd pole on The TOT
u vhish n monksy. M The man
move, The monkey turns round on ih, TOP
oi the ~. 20 n It'll to keep face 10 iAs'
With tie man. 9aey When The man
ha, 70, round the pole. h.s be. OF hl' he
no, gone round the moaksy
The answer which will ooear al h,'
,ish, TO NOS, person, i' that the maa has
no, soas round the moaksy. since he h.'
never been behind IL. TIE eoree, an
.wsr. ho.s,tr. =, decided by Kno"lsdsr,
in n. page. Of which this momsn,ou'
question la. been argued, j. iha, ihs msn
ka, gone rouhd the monkey Ia so'ag
round The pole.
The following hA, not, - fAf ss iAs
writer /, aware. hitherto appeared Ia
pria,: "a train standing on an incline
!, Just kept stationary by an sngias which
I, no, .afisi,nily powerful 10 draw IL Up
the iaeline. A second engine Of the sans
possr as the fret. i. thea brought up 20
l,,i., by pu,hirg the train from 6eh'nd'
and the two snsias. together take the
train up the iselin.. SaPPo'e the car
ri.s,. 10 be linked together BY !oose
rhIins. % ,ha, when the sngine IN i'oai
!. .o,ing the chain. are stretched and the
buffer, between the eArrisge. sre 'spir.'-
sd, then wkea the train u moving under
The action ot two engine, the buffers
must be either together or apart. Wh'eA
are A,yi li,hey ATE apart. the engine
behind the train /, svidsn,ly doins no
work. fthsy ate together. then tbs
engine in from, i. doing none. But Meth
sr sngine alone can move the ,r.in
Why. then. doe. The train move
The sollowing va. once asked AZ :
university wins.pir,y by q now we'll
known senior srsn9ler: "Sippo'e three
snakes, each II ~hieh ]. swillovin.
another by ,h, tell. 40 ,hl, the three form
. sirel, then. q, the sVsllowins process
eoa,inass TIE e.sele e,iten,ly grow
smaller and smaller. Now, II they thus
continue 70 swallow each other. uha
,siR eventually become Of de snakes
OF course, II is clear that either ,h'
swallowing process, must stop somewhere
or ,h., the snakes will walsh down esei
Others throats. A. whs, poin,. then
will the swallowing cease, 1.-THE resde
End. himself ready on the sPo, With
clear and precise answer to this qas',io'
be will have proved himself Of re,die
wii than the guest. Of the above.msn
toned wine-par,y. A little eon.idsr.,lo'
however. will probably be 'ufheisn, 4
clear up the mystery and like the preeed
ing enigma Of the railway the problem
may safely be left to the examination o
the Ingenious.
(Which. q, any given moment Is NOV
ing forward fastest. the top Of = eosel
wheel or the bottom - To this sppar
emily very simple question nine person
oa, Of ten, asked st random. will give Al
ineOuee, reply. For a; frs, Sigh, i sp
pears .yiden, ,ha, both the top and ,h
bottom Of the wheel must Of nsee.i,.
be moving forward a, the same rate
namely. the speed q, which the esrrisg
Is travelling. But little thought vii
show that this 10 far from being the case
A poin, on the bottom Of the wheel Is
in fact. by the direction Of lie moiioI
round the axis. moving backward. In a
opposite direction TO tha. Ia which th
carriage Is progressing. and is eon'equsht
ly stationary In space; while . Poin, o.
the top Of the wheel Is moving forward
with the double velocity ofi's own mo'io
round the sxi, and the speed a, ~hiel
the carriage moves.
The following paradox. which has sis
en- rise 10 much discussion. Is someshs
akin 10 the preceding: "How can