Improvements in Means for and in the Method of Writing in Cipher and Deciphering Inland and Foreign Telegrams and Corre- spondence, Applicable also to Typewriters.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Oct., 1889-Accepted, 16th Nov., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means for and in the Method of Writing in Cipher
and Deciphering Inland and Foreign Telegrams and Corre-
spondence, Applicable also to Typewriters.
I, EDWARD DE LANOY LITTLE of the Mount, Northallerton, Schoolmaster, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and, by the following statement :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in means for, and in the method or
methods hitherto invented of, writing and reading, or deciphering, secret writing by
the adjustment of a moveable scale or scales of letters and other characters with respect
to a fixed scale of letters and characters, whether the moveable scale or scales be used
or intended to be used, as an integral or supplementary part of a type-writer or any
similar instrument, or whether the moveable scale or scales form part of a cryptograph,
that is to say of an instrument intended to facilitate the conversion, without recording
the conversion, of any communication into cipher or secret writing and the reconver-
sion of the cipher into the original.
In this invention the same adjustment of the two said scales which serves for the
purpose of writing the cipher also enables the receiver to decipher or read the cipher
into the original, which is an important advantage.
More especially the principal objects of the invention are, firstly, to facilitate the
writing and deciphering of inland telegrams in cipher, or secret writing, with greater
economy in the cost of transmission of the same, and secondly to render tpye-writers
available for the writing in cipher and deciphering of foreign telegrams, and thirdly,
to facilitate the variation of the cipher employed without altering the relative
adjustment of the scales employed.
The construction of the scales and the processes af ciphering and deciphering by
means of the samo are fully set forth in the following descriptions and in the
accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 represents generally the adjustment to a fixed scale of letters and characters a,
whether of a type-writer or similar instrument, or of a cryptograph or like instrument,
of a moveable scale, or set of scales b, c, d, e. In this Figure the scales are drawn so
as to be rectilinear, and are shown in one relative position. In actual use, the
moveable scale, or set of scales, unless the scales both fixed and moveable are arranged
round the circumferences of concentric circles, must necessarily recur, in order to
make its adjustment, relatively to the fixed scale, variable. In typewriters the fixed
scale would be invisible. It is shown in Fig. 1 for explanatory purposes, and as it
would appear in a cryptograph.
The first modification of the usual arrangement or construction I introduce is the
following:
The order of the letters and characters on the fixed scale is reversed on the
moveable scale, or set of scales for the purpose of facilitating the process of
deciphering, reading, or reconverting the cipher into the original.
In Fig. 1, F in scale a stands above A in scale b, and in writing is substituted for it.
F therefore is the cipher of A. A in scale a stands above F in scale b. A is there-
fore the cipher of F, and if F in a cipher message be ciphered again it will be
reconverted into its original A. That is to say, owing to the above mentioned orders
of the letters and characters, the same ajustment of the scales a and b serves both for
ciphering and deciphering. This retention of the same adjustment in the case in which
only one scale is made use of saves much trouble and risk of error, and in the processes
bereafter explained, where a multiple scale is required, it is essential. For if the
order of the characters in the fixed scale were preserved in the moveable scales it would
be impossible to decipher a cipher message without readjusting the moveable scales
both with respect to the fixed scale and with respect to one another.

page_text: In 6 therefore (Fig. 1), considered singly, I have a single moveable scale, adjusted
to a fixed scale a, and available for ciphering and deciphering all the characters of the
two scales into as many different ciphers as there are adjustments possible of b to a.
In Fig. 1 six adjustments are possible; I, H, G, F, E, D, could each be made to
stand under A, and, if the whole scale were made to recur, there would be as many
adjustments possible as there are characters in the scales, that is to say 36.
But there is one, and only one, adjustment of 6 to a possible, in which every letter
will be ciphered into a letter, viz., that adjustment by which Z in scale b is placed
under A in scale a, and A in scale is placed under Z in scale a.
position the cipher of one or more letters must be a figure.
In every other
Now in writing inland telegrams a cipher of letters and figures mixed is a
disadvantage, inasmuch as by the regulations of the Post Office, every change from
letters to figures, or vice versa, counts as a change of word.
In writing foreign telegrams a cipher of letters and figures mixed is inadmissible.
By the addition of scale c, as shown in Fig. 1, correspondents are enabled to cipher
letters into letters only, as also figures and signs into letters only, and to decipher the
resulting cipher and this with facility and without confusion, as hereinafter explained.
It will be observed that scale c is identical with scale b, changed in position. The
series of figures in c begins at the same point as the series of letters in b, or in other
words 2 in c stands under A in b.
I take the sign preceding the scale of letters in b, which in Fig. 1 is the stop
and adjust it to any character agreed upon in a. In the process next to be described
the character agreed upon must be a letter, not a figure. This letter under which is
placed I call the key character or key, as the particular cipher is sufficiently indicated
by making this character known. In Fig. 1, G is therefore the key.
In order to cipher or decipher letters into letters, the operator must look for the key
in scale c; he will find it (G in Fig. 1) under or opposite Z in scale a; he will also
find the letter preceding the key (F in Fig. 1) at that point in scale b which stands
under A in scale a. The two scales b and c together therefore give a complete
alphabet, beginning, with the adjustment shown in Fig. 1, at G in scale cand running
to the left as far as Z, then changing to A in scale b and terminating at F. Thus
every letter in this alphabet is, either in scale b or scale c, brought under a letter in
scale a and may thus be ciphered into a letter.
C
To cipher the word SEND, for instance, the operator beginning at the key G in c
carries his eye to the left along e until he comes to S which he ciphers by writing N.
He then passess to the left till he comes to Z, when he changes to A in scale b, and so
to the left to E, which he ciphers by writing B. In the same way N D are ciphered
into S C. The whole cipher for "SENI) "therefore is "N BS C."
To decipher the operator ciphers in precisely the same way "N BS C," and the
result is the original "SEND."
When the operator wishes to proceed to cipher figures, he must notify his intention
to his correspondent, who otherwise on seeing a cipher letter L, for instance, might
be in doubt whether it were the cipher for U in scale c or 6 in scale b. This
notification of change may be effected by ciphering the, that is by writing the key
once. The key might of course be the cipher of Z, and if the operator wishes to make
it so he must notify this to his correspondent, which he may do by writing the key
twice. This will seldom have to be done, since Z does not often occur.
2:
Having notified the change to figures, the operator proceeds to cipher figures,
"1250 for instance, as follows. He looks for the first figure in scale b, which stands
to the left of the line y Fig. 1, where the series of letters in scale a ends. The first
figure into the left of y is 2, and the whole series lies in scale b, and will be ciphered
from that scale. and & take the place of 1 and 0, or may be made conventionally to
stand for 1 and 0. The operator might accordingly cipher 1 as G which stands
over but as G has already had a different meaning assigned to it, it will be better to
cipher as I from scale c, when it occurs in that scale to the left of line Y, and
from I in scale bif it does not occur in that part of c. 1 therefore is ciphered as X,
2 as P, 5 as M, 0 (or &) as H, and the whole cipher for "1250" is "X PM H."
-
'

page_text: When he intends to return to letters the operator must again notify his intention
by ciphering that is by writing G, and the whole cipher will stand as
"NBSCGX PM H G."
The correspondent on seeing G single knows that it is the sign of a change to
figures, and proceeds to decipher "X PM H" thus:-
He looks for them to the right of line in scale b, beginning at the right at the
key G, and moving to the left (changing to scale c, if necessary, on reaching Z) to P.
Not finding X in this series he knows that it is the cipher for 1, because the cipher
of every other figure must be contained in the series, and he ciphers X from the
letters series to the left of y into I. "P.M H" he ciphers or deciphers, as "25 &"
or "25 0." Then seeing G single again he knows that a return to letters is to be made.
The addition of scale c therefore renders it possible to cipher any communication
by letters only, and to decipher the cipher with the same adjustment of the scales.
It will also afford a variety of cipher, without altering the adjustment of the scales ;
for correspondence by post-cards, or letter, or for advertisement.
Thus "SEND 150' might be ciphered either from scale bas "X B4 CGM H,"
or from scale cas "N 3 S 48 6 9, or by taking the letters alternately from the
scales b and c as "X 344 G C H," or by any one of many combinations.
If scale c be made moveable with respect to scale the variety of cipher made
possible is enormously increased, but I prefer that the scale c should in type-
writers be fixed relatively to the scale in order to avoid complications in
construction.
It is sometimes desirable to correspond in figure-cipher only, as for instance, in
Foreign telegrams addressed to places neither in Europe nor the United States of
America, for letter ciphers are not admissible in such cases.
Partly to meet this want, and partly still further to increase the possibility of varying
the cipher without readjustment of the scales I add another scale or scales.
In Fig. 1 a is the scale of an existing typewriter, known as "The Miniature Pocket
Type-writer," No. 2, and the proportion which the number of letters in it bears to the
number of figures and signs makes it necessary to add two scales d, e. If the scale a were
more conveniently arranged, as will be seen hereafter (in the description of Fig. 3), the
addition of one scale only would be sufficient to make the combination available for the
ciphering of letters and figures into figures and such signs as are admissible in
telegrams as figures.
It will be observed that d and e are indentical with b and c, but are changed
in position, in such a maner that d stands in the same position with respect to c,
as e to b, and e in the same position with regard to d, as d to c, and c to b; that is to
say that 2 in each scale stands under A in the scale above.
с
It must be borne in mind that in the process of ciphering into figure-cipher, the
only part of the instrument in use, with one exception explained below, will be the
party, Fig. 1, where the series of figures in scale a lies.
If this part of the multiple scale be examined it will be seen that under the series
of figures in a (assuming for the present that 0 is represented by & and 1 by *) lies a
complete series or alphabet of letters and figures beginning with the key G in scale b,
passing from right to left to P in that scale, thence to Qin scale e (since M, N, O,
and P have already occurred, and are therefore redundant) and on to V, thence to W
in scale d and on to 7, thence to 8 and on to F in scale c. Every character therefore
in the series, whether letter or figure, stands under a figure in scale a and might be
ciphered into that figure. But as under every figure in a stands a vertical column of
four characters, each character must receive in addition to its column cipher, or that
Gigure standing at the head of the column in which it occurs, a cipher to distinguish it
from the other characters in the same column. This is effected by adding a cipher
which is that of the number or figure of the particular scale in which the character to
be ciphered lies. Now as there are only four scales b, c, d and e they may be con-
veniently indicated by the figures 1 2, 3 and or, in nearly all ciphers, by the
figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 respectively, and by adding the cipher of one of these figures to
the column-cipher of any character we shall sufficiently indicate the scale in which the

page_text: character lies, and the double-cipher will accurately indicate the character. This
duplication of the cipher is unavoidable in figure-ciphers, as there are not figures or
digits enough to assign as ciphers, one each, to 26 letters, much less to 36 characters,
letters and figures taken together. The cipher for the column standing under & in
scale a must be noticed. & is not admissible in cipher telegrams as a figure, and 0
must be substituted for it. The cipher for 0, which in Fig. 1 is 3, must therefore be
noted, and whenever a character in the second column to the left of the line is to be
ciphered, it must not be ciphered directly, but indirectly, from 3 to the left of line y,
in scale b, and its column-cipher will then be o substituted for &.
The process of ciphering into figures is now easily effected.
Suppose, for instance, that "SEND" 150" were now to be ciphered into figures.
Since S stands under 5 in scale a its column cipher is 5, which is written, and then to
indicate its scale, which is e, the cipher of either 4 or 8 is added; the duplicate cipher
therefore of 8 is either 55 or 5. Whichever is selected no confusion can result, as 5
will be mentally deciphered as 4, and will be mentally deciphered 8, and either will
show that the original character stood in the 4th scale or e.
Similarly "END" will be ciphered "374847" or "334443," or by any other
variation in accordance with the conventional designation of scales b, c, d, and e
by 1, 2, 3 and 4 or by 5, 6, 7 and 8 respectively. Similarly 15 would be ciphered
by "874697" or any other admissible variation.
The correspondent on receiving the cipher "5537.48.47.87 46.97" proceeds to
decipher it thus:-
He knows that the second digit 5 is the cipher designation of the scale in which the
first cipher-digit 5 lies, and he knows that is the cipher for 4 as it lies in the
3rd column to the right of line y, and therefore under 4; he therefore looks for 5 in
the 4ths or e scale and ciphers, or deciphers, it into S. Similarly 3 in the 2nd or
c scale he ciphers, or deciphers, into E; and so with the rest of the cipher which he
deciphers into "ND 150."
Besides their use in this process of ciphering into figures only and deciphering the
resulting cipher, the four scales b, c, d and e may be used in varying the ciphers in a
great number of ways. Thus any one of them might be used for a simple constant
cipher, any two or any three, or all four, might be used for a changing cipher, and a
large number of other variations might be made in the cipher by combining them in
various ways.
Thus, for instance, the hereinbefore described process of using scales b and c only to
cipher into letters only is equally applicable to at least one other pair of the parts of
the moveable scale, where d'ande are added, so that the cipher into letters only can be
easily varied without any alteration of adjustment.
The processes by which these combined scales are used have been thus explained in
a general way by reference to Fig. 1, which represents rectilinearly the adjustment
of the multiple scale to the fixed scale of a type-writer or cryptograph.
Fig. 2 represents the application of identically the same multiple scale as in Fig. 1
to the hereinbefore mentioned type-writer of which P is the dial bearing a character
scale identical with a in Fig. 1.
In applying the multiple-scale to a type-writer, I place it over the scale of the type-
writer, so that the only character of that scale left visible is seen through a gap or
aperture in the multiple scale. This makes the processes of ciphering and deciphering
easier, as the eye of the operator is not confused between the scale from which he
appears to write and the scale from which the writing is actually effected.
In Fig. 2, P is the dial of a type-writer, the annular multiple scale applied to it,
and lightly clamped either to the edge of P or to the handle which serves to effect the
revolution of the dial, and to depress and raise it. R is the aperture in the multiple
scale leaving the character key G visible. If the directions given above in referring
to Fig. 1 be followed in respect of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2, substituting
is beneath" for "over 33 68
over for "under and "moving against the hands of the
clock" for "moving from right to left," each of the processes may be effected in pre-
cisely the same way, as is there described. As it is always convenient to know which

page_text: part of the instrument is in use I have indicated the part of the type-writer scale
occupied by figures by a small scale of figures S which may be written on a strip of
paper and fastened to the dial of the type-writer. The lines x, y have precisely the
same signification as in Fig. 1 and mark the divisions between the series of letters in
the type-writer scale, and the series of figures in the same scale. They may be drawn
on the dial P and then the scale S will hardly be needed.
Fig. 3 represents a cryptograph consisting of a dial bearing on the circumference
of its face a fixed scale a and a dial bearing on its face a triple moveable scale b, which
may be made moveable in its own parts with respect to one another and which re-
volving round the common centre of the two dials may be adjusted as a whole, so as
to stand in any required position with regard to a.
and _
The scale a is almost identical with the fixed scale in Figs. 1 and 2. I and have
been transferred to the series of figures, where they stand of course for I and O,
has been substituted for &. A scale of 24 letters and 12 figures, or signs,
admissible in telegrams as figures, has thus been formed and by this means exactly one
third part of the total scale is occupied by figures. Thus as the series of figures in each
one of the three parts of the triple scale is made to begin at the same point as the
series of letters in the scale next before or above it three scales only are required to
bring every character in the total series under the series of figures in scale a lying, in
Fig. 3, between x and y and slightly shaded. Thus beginning with the key F, Fig. 3,
lying under of scale a, and passing against the hands of the clock to S, thence to the
lowest or innermost scale to T and in the same direction to 5, thence to 6 in the
middle scale and along the scale to E we exhaust the series.
In using the cryptograph, to cipher letters as letters, since I and O are not contained
in the series of letters in the fixed scale they will not of course be found among the
letters in the multiple scale, and must therefore either be ciphered as figures, which
would be very inconvenient, or written unciphered, or substituted one for the other,
which is perhaps the best course.
All the processes described in reference to Figs. 1 and 2 may be effected with this
instrument with greater ease than before, but it is not available, of course, for recording
the results. If the scale a of the type-writer represented in Fig. 2, were modified in
the same way as in Fig. 3, the multiple scale of Fig. 3 might be attached to it or
fixed over it as in Fig. 2, and the type-writer would be available for recording the
results of all processes described above, by means of this triple scale.
The triple or gradruple scale can also be adapted to the scales of a variety of other
type-writers, and even when a typewriter is not suitable for the triplication or
quadruplication of the moveable scale, the duplicate scale may be applied to it with
advantage, or a cryptograph similar to that represented in Fig. 3 may be used in
conjunction with the type-writer.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
ALPA
1. In type-writers, the duplication of the moveable scale, so as to render them
available.
Firstly, for writing in cipher and in letters only inland telegrams, whereby a great
saving in the cost of transmission is effected.
Secondly, for writing in cipher and in letters only, that particular class of foreign
cipher telegrams which may be written either in letters only or in figures only.
Thirdly, for the use of more complex ciphers than can conveniently be employed
when only one moveable scale is employed.
2. In typewriters the further multiplication of the moveable scale, so as to render
them available,
Firstly, for writing in figure-cipher that particular class of foreign cipher telegrams
which must be written in figures only.
Secondly, for the use of still more complex ciphers than those referred to in the
claim 1.

page_text: 3. In type-writers the reversal of the order of the characters of the fixed scale in
each of the parts of the moveable scale, which enables the correspondent to decipher
any message written by the processes described-by precisely the same adjustment as
was made to write the cipher communication.
4. In type-writers the superposition of the moveable scale over the fixed scale of
the typewriter, whereby the operations of ciphering and deciphering are simplified
owing to the removal of all risk of confusion between the scales.
5. In cryptographs such an adjustment of a multiple scale, moveable, both with
respect to a fixed scale, and in its own parts with respect to one another, as renders
them available.
Firstly, for indicating the results of any of the above described processes.
Roy, for great variety of cipher.
Dated this Twelfth day of October 1980.
JAMES STEVENSON,
Gray's Inn Chambers, 20, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agent for Applicant.
JAMES STEVENSON,
Gray's Inn Chambers, 20, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agent for Applicant.