  That the faculty of sight needs training will be admitted by every reasonable person, but how best to give the eye this advantage is a question which has never been settled. An English hunter, the author of a book on Norway, gives some interesting hints upon the matter: The reason that the different characteristics of tracks are not observed by the untrained eye is not because they are so very small as to be invisible, but because they are—to that eye—so inconspicuous as to escape notice. In the same way the townsman will stare straight at a grouse in the heather, or a trout poised above the gravel in the brook, and will not see them; not because they are too small, but because he does not know what they look like in those positions. He does not know, in fact, what he is looking for, and a magnifying glass would in no wise help him. To the man who does not know what to look for, the lens may be a hindrance, because it alters the proportions to which his mind is accustomed, and still more because its field is too limited.—Youth’s Companion. LESSON I This lesson is intended to teach the code or key. Attention is called to the mathematical regularity of its construction, which will enable the teacher to demonstrate it in a very simple manner. First write the column of numbers from 1 to 24. Then opposite number 1 place five red circles in a row. Under the last one in this row, and on a line with number 2 place a blue circle, and continue alternating red and blue down the column. Then under the 4th red circle in the 1st row place another red one, then two blue ones, alternating 2 reds with 2 blues down the column. In the 3rd column the reds and blues alternate in sets of four; in the 2nd column, in sets of eight, and in the 1st column, in sets of 16. Since only 24 combinations are necessary, the last eight of the possible 32 have been omitted. Now opposite these 24 combinations place the letters of the alphabet in regular order, remembering that I and J, U and V are used interchangeably. To facilitate the use of the code the red and the blue circles may be designated by small a and small b respectively. The right hand section of this lesson gives the code worked out on this plan and makes future reference easy. In all the succeeding lessons one form (whether it be blocks, beads, yarn or what not) will be called the a form, and the other will be called the b form. On account of the nature of the code, the a forms always predominate; and in getting together materials for this work, the teacher should be guided accordingly. LESSON II Short lines represent the a form, long lines, the b form. The cipher word is “the.” Various forms of sewing cards, or yarns of different colors may be used. LESSON III In this weaving mat the light squares represent the a form, the dark ones, the b form. The arrow marks the starting point, and the reading proceeds from left to right in each line. The cipher message is “Mary had a little lamb.” Any sentence containing the requisite number of letters can be inserted on the same principle. LESSON IV This lesson embodies what may be designated as a symbolic cipher design. This design conveys the idea of the setting sun, and hence the cipher word contained within is “sunset.” Red sticks represent the b form, orange sticks, the a form. The arrow marks the starting point, and the reading proceeds in a clockwise direction. LESSON V This is another symbolic cipher design picturing “Humpty-Dumpty.” The blue squares represent the a form, the red squares the b form. The cipher message is “sat on a wall.” The blank squares can be filled by colored crayons or blocks, and the children can thus practice the building of the message by referring to the code in Lesson I. LESSON VI Another symbolic cipher design in which the hens represent the b form, the chicks the a form. The cipher word is “egg,” reading from left to right. This sort of symbolic cipher designing is susceptible of endless variation, and gives a hint of the possibility of drawing cipher pictures. A sufficient supply is furnished so that when cut out, the hens and chicks may be utilized to spell out various words under the direction of the teacher. LESSON VII—THE TIME-TEACHING CLOCK In this clock the movable colored dots indicating the minutes are used to spell out the time in cipher. In the working cards to be provided for the child the colored dots are to be inserted in the holes made for the purpose around the face of the clock. There being sixty dots, any phrase expressive of time not exceeding twelve letters in length (that is, twelve times five dots for each letter equals 60) is available for indicating the time in cipher. That is to say, any phrase such as “half-past ten,” “nine-thirty,” etc., can be indicated on the clock by using five times as many dots as there are letters in the phrase selected. Should there be less than twelve letters in the phrase, the holes remaining are to be left blank. This lesson is extremely flexible in respect to the many combinations which it makes possible. The teacher or parent should bear in mind that the most effective use of the clock is to be attained by first choosing a phrase designating some time of the day which is significant in the daily experience of the child—such as the opening or closing hour of school, the play hour, the dinner hour, or “bed-time.” This phrase is converted into cipher by having the child place the dots representing the letters of the phrase, beginning at the figure twelve, around the clock face. After this has been done the child should be asked to “decipher” the phrase by naming the letter which each group of five dots stands for. When this is accomplished, the ability to read the time becomes an unconscious achievement, since the hands of the clock are then placed by the parent or teacher, or by the child under her direction, in the proper position to indicate the deciphered phrase. If, for example, the phrase “half-past nine” is selected and the child has extracted this from the colored dot combination, the hands of the clock are moved to nine-thirty. The child, with the phrase fresh in his mind, learns from this the position of the hands of the clock representing the time, since the mental image of the clock face with the hands in the required position establishes an association which becomes indelibly impressed on the child’s mind. By reference to the code the arrangement of the dots on the clock will be found to spell the time indicated by the hands, i. e., “five past four.” The red dots represent the a, the blues the b. LESSON VIII On this cipher necklace the square beads represent the a form, the round beads the b form. The cipher words are “Yankee Doodle.” For working this or any other appropriate phrase, the child should string the beads on one of the laces provided. LESSON IX This is similar to the preceding lesson except that in this case the blue beads represent the a form, the orange beads, the b form. The cipher words are “A Cipher Chain.” LESSON X This cipher necklace combines both Lessons VIII and IX, and shows how two ciphers may be infolded at once. Reading the beads first as regards their shape and using the same system as in Lesson VIII, the necklace still spells out the word “Yankee Doodle.” Then reading the beads as regards color, the words “A Cipher Chain” are deciphered, as in Lesson IX. This lesson gives a hint of the possibility of enfolding three, four, or five cipher messages at once. LESSON XI In this lesson comes the first step in showing how a cipher message may be hidden within an ordinary architectural example. The red circles represent the a form, the blue ones the b form; the reading proceeds in exactly the same way in which the figure is written. The cipher phrase is “United States.” Any figures can be selected for the children to form, provided, when formed, they contain the requisite number of circles of each color. LESSON XII The cipher word is “pasture,” the red circles being the a form, the blue ones the b form. LESSON XIII The cipher word is “Barking,” the red circles being the a form, the blue ones the b form. LESSON XIV The word “CIPHER” contains the hidden name “Sir Francis Bacon,” the red circles being the a form, the blue ones, the b form. The reading proceeds in the same manner as the strokes of the letters would be made by the hand. The design in the margin contains a double cipher, similar in construction to the necklace in Lesson X. The red and blue pieces still represent the a and the b forms respectively, as before, and the cipher word is “alphabet.” This constitutes the first cipher. The second cipher is based upon the difference in shape of these pieces, the long ones being the a form, the circles, the b form. The cipher word is “decipher.” LESSON XV The phrase “Biliteral Cipher” is made to contain the hidden word “key” by the use of a capital letter for the a form, and a small letter for the b form. The borders to the lines contain the cipher word “letter,” the blue sticks being the a form, the red ones the b form. The reading proceeds from left to right in each line, beginning with the line at the top. The children may be directed to cut out any set of letters of appropriate size to form any desired phrase, using capital and small letters on the same principle as in the example. LESSON XVI Design for Peacock Lodge. For Col. George Fabyan.
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