41] He finds in it an account which Bovillus gives of the quadrature
of the peasant laborer, and describes it as agreeing with his own. But the
description makes [pi] = 3-1/8, which it thus appears Bovillus could not
distinguish from [root]10. It seems also that this 3-1/8, about which we
shall see so much in the sequel, takes its rise in the thoughtful head of a
poor laborer. It does him great honor, being so near the truth, and he
having no means of instruction. In our day, when an ignorant person chooses
to bring his fancy forward in opposition to demonstration which he will not
study, he is deservedly laughed at.

{46}

THE STORY OF LACOMME'S ATTEMPT AT QUADRATURE.

Mr. James Smith,[42] of Liverpool--hereinafter notorified--attributes the
first announcement of 3-1/8 to M. Joseph Lacomme, a French well-sinker, of
whom he gives the following account:

"In the year 1836, at which time Lacomme could neither read nor write, he
had constructed a circular reservoir and wished to know the quantity of
stone that would be required to pave the bottom, and for this purpose
called on a professor of mathematics. On putting his question and giving
the diameter, he was surprised at getting the following answer from the
Professor: _'Qu'il lui etait impossible de le lui dire au juste, attendu
que personne n'avait encore pu trouver d'une maniere exacte le rapport de
la circonference au diametre.'_[43] From this he was led to attempt the
solution of the problem. His first process was purely mechanical, and he
was so far convinced he had made the discovery that he took to educating
himself, and became an expert arithmetician, and then found that
arithmetical results agreed with his mechanical experiments. He appears to
have eked out a bare existence for many years by teaching arithmetic, all
the time struggling to get a hearing from some of the learned societies,
but without success. In the year 1855 he found his way to Paris, where, as
if by accident, he made the acquaintance of a young gentleman, son of M.
Winter, a commissioner of police, and taught him his peculiar methods of
calculation. The young man was so enchanted that he strongly recommended
Lacomme to his father, and {47} subsequently through M. Winter he obtained
an introduction to the President of the Society of Arts and Sciences of
Paris. A committee of the society was appointed to examine and report upon
his discovery, and the society at its _seance_ of March 17, 18