The Dickinson press., 1888-12-22
WONDERS OF THE soRoBAN.
The Japanese System of Ciphcrin:-Rapid
Methods of Counting.

Ahc Japanese system oil
Methods of Counting.
Suppose n few articles had been purchased,
and the paltry sun total is only worthy n
record in the first example of u schoolboy's
mental arithmetic. The buyer sums them
instantly in his mind, but the tradcsman
Gcigns not to receive tho amount CT to per
pick himself with any mathematical labor,
however trifing. He scizes his soroban,
gives it Il tilt, and Il rattling sweep of tho
hand, makes Il few clicks and announces the
price. There is frequently Il small difference
i'll amount, arising from imperfect compre.
hcnsion of the inlin tessimal coins, which
play Il more prominent part i'll retail trade
hero than do the farthings in the English
penny shops. But the soroban may DO
trusted. 1t does not lie any more than the
multiplication table may. y longer nc
quaintancc transforms the first distrust into
wondering admiration. In u competition of
simple addition an ordinary tradesman in
Japan would carry off the palm from any
mathematician of tho west.
Tho arithmctical process on n soroban diff
felS so completely from our cipher that only
study and practice will make it understood.
Vol know the instruments: \ shallow rec
tangular box, with a bar of wood, making
an unequal division lcngthwisc. Wircs-gcn-
orally seventeen III number, but that is not
essential upon which are strung wood balls,
cross tho short iamctc of the box, running
through the wood bar. In the largest divis-
ion there are five balls on each wire, and in
tho smaller only ono.
Forget all the arithmetic you have learned,
and begin again with an eastern soul. There
Will be no fractions to alarm you-hcre will
be only dccimals. The middle Wire will rep
resent units, and the rods on either hand
have Il place valuo corresponding to our sys-
tom of enumeration. To the left are the tens,
hundreds and thousands, to the right the
trlthS, hUndrctlths, and so on. Away from
III" dividing ball the balls have 10 signilica-
ti2a or Nal.c; pushed TO it, they arc units in
the llrScr compartment and fivcs of the
same denomination in the small one. This
81 q; almost IL double system of counting. 1t
isl'y fivcs as well as by tens.
Suppose the first sum adjusted Oh tho soru-
ban by pushing up balls for every digit.
Tho EcSt ono to he added is Incorporated
with it in the very act of writing-if that
word may stand for tho second act of adj
ju>tmcnt. Hero comes the beginning of
il:o difference. Tho largest numbers arc
added first and the smallest last. 1t is like
everything else done i'm the East, wrong end
first. MI the process of "ca,ry tcn," which
We master with infinite trouLls in childhood,
disappears in the magical movements of
those intermediary fivcs. Mathematics is
not regarded with awe in this country. nor is
it made IL point of measure between male and
female intellect. Tho betto carries his soro-
ban, and %rcckons upon it the meals of his
horses. Every kitchen is furnished with it,
although spoons and pans may 10 minus.
Tic nurse clicks its balls when mcditating
tic c&travasanac of an added length to her
next gown, and the fearless baby plays with
it for Il rattle.
If thcrc is anything which could reconcile
me to being Il native of the far cast, it is
being born to Use tho sorobun. The sorobau
isthe key to Il system of arithmetic so widely
different from ours it deserves moro respect
Than scholars generally accord to it. On its
wires not only multiplication and division
are ratified over, but the longer processes of
square root and cube root click out tho exact
results with less probability Of errors than
when done 10y cipllcring. The japanese may
lay aside his dress and his domestic customs.
his iinriishas, and even his alphabet, but his
sorotpan observation-disclosures American.