Fig. 4.—The “two-letter” cipher.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | a | b | c | d | e |
| 2 | f | g | h | i | j |
| 3 | k | l | m | n | o |
| 4 | p | q | r | s | t |
| 5 | uv | w | x | y | z |
Fig. 5.—The Nihilist code.
Russian Nihilist Code
An adaptation of the last-mentioned system is shown in [Fig. 5], where the letters at the side and top are replaced by numerals. This method is very much in use amongst the Russian Nihilists, who would therefore write the sentence “Plot discovered” as follows: 41, 32, 35, 45; 14, 24, 44, 13, 35, 51, 15, 43, 15, 14.
This, again, can be very much complicated by multiplying each number by the position held by the letter in the word. Thus in the sentence just put into cipher, P is the first letter in the word “plot,” L is the second, O the third, T the fourth, whilst in the next word D is the first, I the second, &c. You therefore multiply the ciphers in the first word by 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively, and deal similarly with those of the second word. The sentence thus treated would appear—41, 64, 105, 180; 14, 48, 132, 52, 175, 306, 105, 344, 135, 140.
To read this the system must be reversed, and each number divided by its position in the word.
Fig. 6.—A musical cipher.
Play [cipher]