Enquire within upon everything

[MOCK NOT A COBBLER FOR HIS BLACK THUMB.] 59. Enigmas are compositions of a different character, based upon ideas, rather than upon words, and frequently constructed so as to mislead, and to surprise when the solution is made known. Enigmas may be founded upon simple catches, like Conundrums, in which form they are usually called RIDDLES, such as: "Though you set me on foot, I shall be on my head." The answer is, A nail in a shoe. The celebrated Enigma on the letter H, by Miss Catherine Fanshawe, but usually attributed to Lord Byron, commencing: "'Twas whispered in heaven, 'twas muttered in hell, And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;" and given elsewhere in this volume (See par. 215, page 77), is an admirable specimen of what may be rendered in the form of an Enigma. 60. Hidden Words. A riddle in which names of towns, persons, rivers, &c., are hidden or arranged, without transposition, in the midst of sentences which convey no suggestion of their presence. In the following sentence, for instance, there are hidden six Christian names:--Here is hid a name the people of Pisa acknowledge: work at each word, for there are worse things than to give the last shilling for bottled wine.--The names are Ida, Isaac, Kate, Seth, Ethel, Edwin. Great varieties of riddles, known as Buried Cities, Hidden Towns, &c., are formed on this principle, the words being sometimes placed so as to read backwards, or from right to left. The example given will, however, sufficiently explain the mode of operation.