The Nails in the Horse’s Shoe
A man took a fancy to a horse, which a dealer wished to dispose of at as high a price as he could; the latter, to induce the man to become a purchaser, offered to let him have the horse for the value of the twenty-fourth nail in his shoes, reckoning one farthing for the first nail, two for the second, four for the third, and so on to the twenty-fourth. The man, thinking he should have a good bargain, accepted the offer; the price of the horse was, therefore, necessarily great. By calculating as before, the twenty-fourth term of the progression 1: 2: 4: 8: etc., will be found to be 8388608, equal to the number of farthings the purchaser gave for the horse; the price, therefore amounted to £8738. 2s. 8d.