In throwing the dice if one remain on the top
of the other, 'it is a present of which you must take care,'
namely, 'a little stranger' at hand.
Two singular facts throw light on the kind of dice used some 100
and 150 years ago. In an old cribbage card-box, curiously
ornamented, supposed to have been made by an amateur in the reign
of Queen Anne, and now in my possession, I found a die with one
end fashioned to a point, evidently for the purpose of spinning--
similar to the modern teetotum. With the same lot at the sale
where it was bought, was a pack of cards made of ivory, about an
inch and a half in length and one inch in width--in other
respects exactly like the cards of the period.
Again, it is stated that in taking up the floors of the Middle
Temple Hall, about the year 1764, nearly 100 pairs of dice were
found, which had dropped, on different occasions, through the
chinks or joints of the boards. They were very small, at least
one-third less that those now in use. Certainly the benchers of
those times did not keep the floor of their magnificent hall in a
very decent condition.
A curious fact relating to dice may here be pointed out. Each of
the six sides of a die is so dotted or numbered that the top and
bottom of every die (taken together) make 7; for if the top or
uppermost side is 5, the bottom or opposite side will be 2; and
the same holds through every face; therefore, let the number of
dice be what it may, their top and bottom faces, added together,
must be equal to the number of dice multiplied by 7.
Pages:
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254