A PROBLEM.
We have been much pleased with a little geometrical puzzle, which has lately come under our notice, and, thinking that it may afford equal amusement (perhaps not unprofitable) to our readers, we have thought it worth while inserting it in our pages. The puzzle or problem, as we may term it, was thus proposed to us, and we give it to the public in the same words. A lady was desirous of covering asquareroom with a carpet, and wishing to employ an irregular piece (vide cut) which she had in her possession, and which wasequal in superficial extent of surfaceto her room, was greatly at a loss how to fit it exactly. She mentioned her difficulty to a friend, who immediately put an end to her trouble by cutting the carpet withonly two straightcuts in such a manner that all the pieces when united formed a perfect square, exactly covering the room.—Query, how was it cut?