The order of the moves is immaterial, and this order may be greatly varied. But, although many attempts have been made, nobody has succeeded in reducing the number of my moves.
[362.—THE WASSAIL BOWL.—solution]
The division of the twelve pints of ale can be made in eleven manipulations, as below. The six columns show at a glance the quantity of ale in the barrel, the five-pint jug, the three-pint jug, and the tramps X, Y, and Z respectively after each manipulation.
| Barrel. | 5-pint. | 3-pint. | X. | Y. | Z. | |||||
| 7 | .. | 5 | .. | 0 | .. | 0 | .. | 0 | .. | 0 |
| 7 | .. | 2 | .. | 3 | .. | 0 | .. | 0 | .. | 0 |
| 7 | .. | 0 | .. | 3 | .. | 2 | .. | 0 | .. | 0 |
| 7 | .. | 3 | .. | 0 | .. | 2 | .. | 0 | .. | 0 |
| 4 | .. | 3 | .. | 3 | .. | 2 | .. | 0 | .. | 0 |
| 0 | .. | 3 | .. | 3 | .. | 2 | .. | 4 | .. | 0 |
| 0 | .. | 5 | .. | 1 | .. | 2 | .. | 4 | .. | 0 |
| 0 | .. | 5 | .. | 0 | .. | 2 | .. | 4 | .. | 1 |
| 0 | .. | 2 | .. | 3 | .. | 2 | .. | 4 | .. | 1 |
| 0 | .. | 0 | .. | 3 | .. | 4 | .. | 4 | .. | 1 |
| 0 | .. | 0 | .. | 0 | .. | 4 | .. | 4 | .. | 4 |
And each man has received his four pints of ale.
[363.—THE DOCTOR'S QUERY.—solution]
The mixture of spirits of wine and water is in the proportion of 40 to 1, just as in the other bottle it was in the proportion of 1 to 40.