[HM] The Royal Oak
Guy NOEL (Guy.Noel@umh.ac.be)
Wed, 7 Apr 1999 19:26:59 +0200
In the introduction to his book "The Doctrine of Chance", A. de Moivre
evokes the game "The Royal Oak". This seems to be some kind of "roulette"
(french word, I do not know the english one). What is bizarre is the fact
that when speaking of the elementary events such as "the ball lands in hole
nr 38", de Moivre uses the expression "Eight and Thirty" (with capital
letters) instead of "thirty-eight". Can anybody explain what was exactly the
game "The Royal Oak" (or at least give references) and know whether the use
of expressions like "Eight and Thirty" denotes an old practice in english
which would have disappeared except in some special cases such as games.
Thanks to all who will communicate informations.
Guy NOEL
Universite de Mons-Hainaut
Guy.Noel@umh.ac.be
Faculte des Sciences,
Le Pentagone,
6 Avenue du Champ de Mars
B 7000 Mons
Tel: (32)-65-373415 Fax : (32)-65-373318