Deciphering.Deciphering is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating of arts, and I fear I have wasted upon it more time than it deserves. I practised it in its simplest form when I was at school. The bigger boys made ciphers, but if I got hold of a few words, I usually found out the key. The consequence of this ingenuity was occasionally painful: the owners of the detected ciphers sometimes thrashed me, though the fault really lay in their own stupidity.There is a kind of maxim amongst the craft of decipherers (similar to one amongst the locksmiths), that every cipher can be deciphered.〈BELIEF IN AN INSCRUTABLE CIPHER.〉I am myself inclined to think that deciphering is an affair of time, ingenuity, and patience; and that very few ciphers are worth the trouble of unravelling them.One of the most singular characteristics of the art of deciphering is the strong conviction possessed by every person, even moderately acquainted with it, that he is able to construct a cipher which nobody else can decipher. I have also observed that the cleverer the person, the more intimate is his conviction. In my earliest study of the subject I shared in this belief, and maintained it for many years.{236}〈THE PRESIDENT OF ROYAL SOCIETY’S CIPHER DECIPHERED.〉In a conversation on that subject which I had with the late Mr. Davies Gilbert, President of the Royal Society, each maintained that he possessed a cipher which was absolutely inscrutable. On comparison, it appeared that we had both imagined the same law, and we were thus confirmed in our conviction of the security of our cipher.Many years after, the late Dr. Fitton, having asked my opinion of the possibility of making an inscrutable cipher, I mentioned the conversation I had had with Davies Gilbert, and explained the law of the cipher, which we both thought would baffle the greatest adept in that science. Dr. Fitton fully agreed in my view of the subject; but even whilst I was explaining the law, an indistinct glimpse of defeating it presented itself vaguely to my imagination. Having mentioned my newly-conceived doubt, it was entirely rejected by my friend. I then proposed that Dr. Fitton should write a few sentences in a cipher constructed according to this law, and that I should make some attempts to unravel it. I offered to give a few hours to the subject; and if I could see my way to a solution, to continue my researches; but if not on the road to success, to tell him I had given up the task.Late in the evening of that day I commenced a preparatory inquiry into the means of unravelling this new cipher, and I soon arrived at a tolerable certainty that I should succeed. The next night, on my return from a party, I found Dr. Fitton’s cipher on my table. I immediately commenced my attempt. After some time I found that it would not yield to my means of treating it; and on further examination I succeeded in proving that it was not written according to the law agreed upon. At first my friend was very positive that I was mistaken; and having taken it to his sister, by whose{237}aid it was composed, he returned and told me that itwasconstructed upon the very law I had proposed. I then assured him that theymusthave made some mistake, and that my evidence was so irresistible, that if my life depended upon the result I should have no hesitation in making my election.Dr. Fitton again retired to consult his sister; and after the lapse of a considerable interval of time again returned, and informed me that I was right—that his sister had inadvertently mistaken the enunciation of the law. I now remarked that I possessed an absolute demonstration of the fact I had communicated to him; and added that, having conjectured the origin of the mistake, I would decipher the cipher with the erroneous law before he could send me the new cipher to be made according to the law originally proposed. Before the evening of the next day both ciphers had been translated.This cipher was arranged upon the following principle:—Two concentric circles of cardboard were formed, each divided into twenty-six or more divisions.On the outer were written in regular order the letters of the alphabet. On the inner circle were written the same twenty-six letters, but in any irregular manner.In order to use this cipher, look for the first letter of the word to be ciphered on the outside circle. Opposite to it, on the inner circle, will be another letter, which is to be written as the cipher for the former.Now turn round the inner circle until the cipher just written is opposite the letteraon theoutercircle. Proceed in the same manner for the next, and so on for all succeeding letters.Many varieties of this cipher may be made by inserting{238}other characters to represent the divisions between words, the various stops, or even blanks. Although Davies Gilbert, I believe, and myself, both arrived at it from our own efforts, I have reason to think that it is of very much older date. I am not sure that it may not be found in the “Steganographia” of Schott, or even of Trithemius.〈NEW DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE.〉One great aid in deciphering is, a complete analysis of the language in which the cipher is written. For this purpose I took a good English dictionary, and had it copied out into a series of twenty-four other dictionaries. They comprised all words ofOne letter,Two letters,Three letters,&c. &c.:Twenty-six letters.Each dictionary was then carefully examined, and all the modifications of each word, as, for instance, the plurals of substantives, the comparatives and superlatives of adjectives, the tenses and participles of verbs, &c., were carefully indicated. A second edition of these twenty-six dictionaries was then made, including these new derivatives.Each of these dictionaries was then examined, and every word which contained any two or more letters of the same kind was carefully marked. Thus, against the wordtellthe numbers 3 and 4 were placed to indicate that the third and fourth letters are identical. Similarly, the wordbetterwas followed by the numbers 25, 34. Each of these dictionaries was then re-arranged thus:—In the first or original one each word was arranged according to the alphabetical order of itsinitialletter.In the next the words were arranged alphabetically{239}according to thesecondletter of each word, and so in the other dictionaries on to the last letter.Again, each dictionary was divided into several others, according to the numerical characteristics placed at the end of each word. Many words appeared repeatedly in several of these subdivisions.The work is yet unfinished, although the classification already amounts, I believe, to nearly half a million words.〈QUEER COINCIDENCES.〉From some of these, dictionaries were made of those words only which by transposition of their letters formed anagrams. A few of these arecurious:—Opposite.Similarity.Satirical.vote vetofuel flueodes doseacre caretaps patsbard drabevil veiltubs butspoem mopeever veervast vatspoet topelips slipnote tonetrio riotcask sackcold clodstar ratsfowl wolfevil vilewive viewgods dogsarms marsnabs banstory tyrorove overtame matetars ratslips lispacts catsThere are some verbal puzzles costing much time to solve which may be readily detected by these dictionaries. Such, for instance, is the sentence,I tore ten Persian MSS.,which it is required to form into one word of eighteen letters.The first process is to put opposite each letter the number of times it occurs,thus:—{240}i2t2o1r2e3n2p1s3a1m118It contains—2 triplets.4 pairs.4 single letters.18Now, on examining the dictionary of all words of eighteen letters, it will be observed that they amount to twenty-seven, and that they may be arranged in sixclasses:—7 having five letters of the same kind.5 having four letters of the same kind.3 having three triplets.7 having two triplets.3 having one triplet.2 having seven pairs.27〈ANAGRAMS.〉Hence it appears that the word sought must be one of those seven having two triplets, and also that it must have four pairs; this reduces the question to the twowords—misinterpretations,misrepresentations.The latter is the one sought, because its triplets are e and s, whilst those of the former are i and t.The reader who has leisure may try to find out the word of eighteen letters formed by the followingsentence:—Art is not in, but Satan.〈SQUARING A DEAN.〉Another amusing puzzle may be greatly assisted by these{241}dictionaries. It is called squaring words, and is thus practised:—Let the given word to be squared be Dean. It is to be written horizontally, and also vertically,thus:—D e a n.e . . .a . . .n . . .And it is required to fill up the blanks with such letters that each vertical column shall be the same as its corresponding horizontal column,thus:—D e a ne a s ea s k sn e s tThe various ranks of the church are easily squared; but it is stated, I know not on what authority, that no one has yet succeeded in squaring the word bishop.Having obtained one squared word, as in the case of Dean, it will be observed that any of the letters in the two diagonals, d, a, k, t,—n, s, s, n, may be changed into any other letter which will make an English word.Thus Dean may be changed into such words asdear peas weak beamfear seas lead sealdeaf bear real teamIn fact there are upwards of sixty substitutes: possibly some of these might render the two diagonals, d, a, k, t, and n, s, s, n, also English words.
Deciphering is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating of arts, and I fear I have wasted upon it more time than it deserves. I practised it in its simplest form when I was at school. The bigger boys made ciphers, but if I got hold of a few words, I usually found out the key. The consequence of this ingenuity was occasionally painful: the owners of the detected ciphers sometimes thrashed me, though the fault really lay in their own stupidity.
There is a kind of maxim amongst the craft of decipherers (similar to one amongst the locksmiths), that every cipher can be deciphered.
〈BELIEF IN AN INSCRUTABLE CIPHER.〉
I am myself inclined to think that deciphering is an affair of time, ingenuity, and patience; and that very few ciphers are worth the trouble of unravelling them.
One of the most singular characteristics of the art of deciphering is the strong conviction possessed by every person, even moderately acquainted with it, that he is able to construct a cipher which nobody else can decipher. I have also observed that the cleverer the person, the more intimate is his conviction. In my earliest study of the subject I shared in this belief, and maintained it for many years.{236}
〈THE PRESIDENT OF ROYAL SOCIETY’S CIPHER DECIPHERED.〉
In a conversation on that subject which I had with the late Mr. Davies Gilbert, President of the Royal Society, each maintained that he possessed a cipher which was absolutely inscrutable. On comparison, it appeared that we had both imagined the same law, and we were thus confirmed in our conviction of the security of our cipher.
Many years after, the late Dr. Fitton, having asked my opinion of the possibility of making an inscrutable cipher, I mentioned the conversation I had had with Davies Gilbert, and explained the law of the cipher, which we both thought would baffle the greatest adept in that science. Dr. Fitton fully agreed in my view of the subject; but even whilst I was explaining the law, an indistinct glimpse of defeating it presented itself vaguely to my imagination. Having mentioned my newly-conceived doubt, it was entirely rejected by my friend. I then proposed that Dr. Fitton should write a few sentences in a cipher constructed according to this law, and that I should make some attempts to unravel it. I offered to give a few hours to the subject; and if I could see my way to a solution, to continue my researches; but if not on the road to success, to tell him I had given up the task.
Late in the evening of that day I commenced a preparatory inquiry into the means of unravelling this new cipher, and I soon arrived at a tolerable certainty that I should succeed. The next night, on my return from a party, I found Dr. Fitton’s cipher on my table. I immediately commenced my attempt. After some time I found that it would not yield to my means of treating it; and on further examination I succeeded in proving that it was not written according to the law agreed upon. At first my friend was very positive that I was mistaken; and having taken it to his sister, by whose{237}aid it was composed, he returned and told me that itwasconstructed upon the very law I had proposed. I then assured him that theymusthave made some mistake, and that my evidence was so irresistible, that if my life depended upon the result I should have no hesitation in making my election.
Dr. Fitton again retired to consult his sister; and after the lapse of a considerable interval of time again returned, and informed me that I was right—that his sister had inadvertently mistaken the enunciation of the law. I now remarked that I possessed an absolute demonstration of the fact I had communicated to him; and added that, having conjectured the origin of the mistake, I would decipher the cipher with the erroneous law before he could send me the new cipher to be made according to the law originally proposed. Before the evening of the next day both ciphers had been translated.
This cipher was arranged upon the following principle:—Two concentric circles of cardboard were formed, each divided into twenty-six or more divisions.
On the outer were written in regular order the letters of the alphabet. On the inner circle were written the same twenty-six letters, but in any irregular manner.
In order to use this cipher, look for the first letter of the word to be ciphered on the outside circle. Opposite to it, on the inner circle, will be another letter, which is to be written as the cipher for the former.
Now turn round the inner circle until the cipher just written is opposite the letteraon theoutercircle. Proceed in the same manner for the next, and so on for all succeeding letters.
Many varieties of this cipher may be made by inserting{238}other characters to represent the divisions between words, the various stops, or even blanks. Although Davies Gilbert, I believe, and myself, both arrived at it from our own efforts, I have reason to think that it is of very much older date. I am not sure that it may not be found in the “Steganographia” of Schott, or even of Trithemius.
〈NEW DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE.〉
One great aid in deciphering is, a complete analysis of the language in which the cipher is written. For this purpose I took a good English dictionary, and had it copied out into a series of twenty-four other dictionaries. They comprised all words of
One letter,Two letters,Three letters,&c. &c.:Twenty-six letters.
One letter,
Two letters,
Three letters,
&c. &c.:
Twenty-six letters.
Each dictionary was then carefully examined, and all the modifications of each word, as, for instance, the plurals of substantives, the comparatives and superlatives of adjectives, the tenses and participles of verbs, &c., were carefully indicated. A second edition of these twenty-six dictionaries was then made, including these new derivatives.
Each of these dictionaries was then examined, and every word which contained any two or more letters of the same kind was carefully marked. Thus, against the wordtellthe numbers 3 and 4 were placed to indicate that the third and fourth letters are identical. Similarly, the wordbetterwas followed by the numbers 25, 34. Each of these dictionaries was then re-arranged thus:—In the first or original one each word was arranged according to the alphabetical order of itsinitialletter.
In the next the words were arranged alphabetically{239}according to thesecondletter of each word, and so in the other dictionaries on to the last letter.
Again, each dictionary was divided into several others, according to the numerical characteristics placed at the end of each word. Many words appeared repeatedly in several of these subdivisions.
The work is yet unfinished, although the classification already amounts, I believe, to nearly half a million words.
〈QUEER COINCIDENCES.〉
From some of these, dictionaries were made of those words only which by transposition of their letters formed anagrams. A few of these arecurious:—
Opposite.Similarity.Satirical.vote vetofuel flueodes doseacre caretaps patsbard drabevil veiltubs butspoem mopeever veervast vatspoet topelips slipnote tonetrio riotcask sackcold clodstar ratsfowl wolfevil vilewive viewgods dogsarms marsnabs banstory tyrorove overtame matetars ratslips lispacts cats
There are some verbal puzzles costing much time to solve which may be readily detected by these dictionaries. Such, for instance, is the sentence,
I tore ten Persian MSS.,
which it is required to form into one word of eighteen letters.
The first process is to put opposite each letter the number of times it occurs,thus:—{240}
i2t2o1r2e3n2p1s3a1m118
It contains—
Now, on examining the dictionary of all words of eighteen letters, it will be observed that they amount to twenty-seven, and that they may be arranged in sixclasses:—
〈ANAGRAMS.〉
Hence it appears that the word sought must be one of those seven having two triplets, and also that it must have four pairs; this reduces the question to the twowords—
misinterpretations,misrepresentations.
misinterpretations,
misrepresentations.
The latter is the one sought, because its triplets are e and s, whilst those of the former are i and t.
The reader who has leisure may try to find out the word of eighteen letters formed by the followingsentence:—
Art is not in, but Satan.
〈SQUARING A DEAN.〉
Another amusing puzzle may be greatly assisted by these{241}dictionaries. It is called squaring words, and is thus practised:—Let the given word to be squared be Dean. It is to be written horizontally, and also vertically,thus:—
D e a n.e . . .a . . .n . . .
D e a n.
e . . .
a . . .
n . . .
And it is required to fill up the blanks with such letters that each vertical column shall be the same as its corresponding horizontal column,thus:—
D e a ne a s ea s k sn e s t
D e a n
e a s e
a s k s
n e s t
The various ranks of the church are easily squared; but it is stated, I know not on what authority, that no one has yet succeeded in squaring the word bishop.
Having obtained one squared word, as in the case of Dean, it will be observed that any of the letters in the two diagonals, d, a, k, t,—n, s, s, n, may be changed into any other letter which will make an English word.
Thus Dean may be changed into such words as
dear peas weak beamfear seas lead sealdeaf bear real team
In fact there are upwards of sixty substitutes: possibly some of these might render the two diagonals, d, a, k, t, and n, s, s, n, also English words.