Now if you want to tell some one that “They are all coming over,” you must write it down and place the figures 5, 4, 3 over every letter in succession. Thus:—
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4. | ||||
| T | h | e | y | a | r | e | a | l | l | c | o | m | i | n | g | o | v | e | r. |
Then look for the letter T in the dial; the figure 5 being over it, you must look for the fifth letter from it, which is O: put it down, and go on to the next letter in the message, H; find H in the circle, and as 4 is over it, put down the fourth letter from it, D: for E, with the 3 over it, we must write down the third letter from E; and for the next letter, Y, 5 being over it, the fifth letter; and so on, always counting in the direction of the arrows. The cipher will run eventually: “Odbt woz wig ylhekb kszn.”
The way to read this cipher is to put 543 down the same as before, and to count them on the circle in the opposite way to which the arrows are pointing.
The most famous and complex cipher perhaps ever written was by Lord Bacon. It was arranged in the following manner:—
| aaaaa | stands for | a |
| aaaab | „ | b |
| aaaba | „ | c |
| aaabb | „ | d |
| aabaa | „ | e |
| aabab | „ | f |
| aabba | „ | g |
| aabbb | „ | h |
| abaaa | „ | i & j |
| abaab | „ | k |
| ababa | „ | l |
| ababb | „ | m |
| abbaa | „ | n |
| abbab | „ | o |
| abbba | „ | p |
| abbbb | „ | q |
| baaaa | „ | r |
| baaab | „ | s |
| baaba | „ | t |
| baabb | „ | u & v |
| babaa | „ | w |
| babab | „ | x |
| babba | „ | y |
| babbb | „ | z |
Now, suppose you want to inform some one that “All is well;” first place down the letters separately according to the above alphabet—
aaaaa ababa ababa abaaa baaab babaa aabaa ababa ababa.