“The result has been to show that the man Tan, the god Tan, and the ‘Book of Tan’ are entirely unknown to Chinese literature, history, or tradition.  By most of the learned men the name, or allegation of the existence, of these had never been heard of.  The puzzle is, of course, well known.  It is called in Chinese ch’i ch’iao t’u; literally, ‘seven-ingenious-plan’ or ‘ingenious-puzzle figure of seven pieces.’  No name approaching ‘tangram,’ or even ‘tan,’ occurs in Chinese, and the only suggestions for the latter were the Chinese t’an, ‘to extend’; or t’ang, Cantonese dialect for ‘Chinese.’  It was suggested that probably some American or Englishman who knew a little Chinese or Cantonese, wanting a name for the puzzle, might concoct one out of one of these words and the European ending ‘gram.’  I should say the name ‘tangram’ was probably invented by an American some little time before 1864 and after 1847, but I cannot find it in print before the 1864 edition of Webster.  I have therefore had to deal very shortly with the word in the dictionary, telling what it is applied to and what conjectures or guesses have been made at the name, and giving a few quotations, one from your own article, which has enabled me to make more of the subject than I could otherwise have done.”

[Illustration:  6]

[Illustration:  7]

Several correspondents have informed me that they possess, or had possessed, specimens of the old Chinese books.  An American gentleman writes to me as follows:—­“I have in my possession a book made of tissue paper, printed in black (with a Chinese inscription on the front page), containing over three hundred designs, which belongs to the box of ‘tangrams,’ which I also own.  The blocks are seven in number, made of mother-of-pearl, highly polished and finely engraved on either side.  These are contained in a rosewood box 2+1/8 in. square.  My great uncle, ——­, was one of the first missionaries to visit China.  This box and book, along with quite a collection of other relics, were sent to my grandfather and descended to myself.”

My correspondent kindly supplied me with rubbings of the Tangrams, from which it is clear that they are cut in the exact proportions that I have indicated.  I reproduce the Chinese inscription (8) for this reason.  The owner of the book informs me that he has submitted it to a number of Chinamen in the United States and offered as much as a dollar for a translation.  But they all steadfastly refused to read the words, offering the lame excuse that the inscription is Japanese.  Natives of Japan, however, insist that it is Chinese.  Is there something occult and esoteric about Tangrams, that it is so difficult to lift the veil?  Perhaps this page will come under the eye of some reader acquainted with the Chinese language, who will supply the required translation, which may, or may not, throw a little light on this curious question.

[Illustration:  8]