In this excerpt from Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass," Humpty Dumpty ponders a simple arithmetic question. When asked to subtract one from three hundred and sixty-five, the answer is straightforward: three hundred and sixty-four. He appears unsure or skeptical about the idea of expressing this idea on paper, indicating a preference for more concrete or visual understanding.
"And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five what remains?" is a...