Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Some Contemporary European Accounts c12.15

c12.15

‘Divide the first number eight by the unit beneath it, and the quotient eight shows the number of times that the doors can be opened by one at a time: multiply this last eight by the next term seven, and divide the product by the two beneath it, and the result twenty-eight is the number of times that two different doors may be opened: multiply the last found twenty-eight by the next figure six, and divide the product by the three beneath it, and the quotient fifty-six, shows the number of times that three different doors may be opened: again this fifty-six multiplied by the next five, and divided by the four beneath it, is seventy, the number of times that four different doors may be opened: in the same manner fifty-six is the number of fives that can be opened: twenty-eight the number of times that six can be opened: eight the number of times that seven can be opened: and lastly, one is the number of times the whole may be opened together, and the sum of all the different times is 255.’