One  or  two  pencils  of  this  kind  were  prepared  for  each
examination,  and  there  being  no  rule  against  the  bring
ing  of  lead  pencils  into  the  hall,  they  could  be  taken
out  and  consulted  without  attracting  notice  ;  though,  if
still  greater  security  were  required,  by  fastening  common
clasps  to  their  ends  they  could  be  transformed  into  ordi
nary  looking  penholders,  and  employed  as  such  while
their  secret  information  was  being  memorized  or  written
down.  This  fraud  is  perhaps  a  too  laborious  one  to  be
much  resorted  to,  except  in  desperate  cases,  but  the
almost  absolute  impossibility  of  its  being  detected,
specially  recommends  it  to  the  attention  of  the  timid.
28*


634  POUR    Y&ARS  At  YALE.
Another  trick  is  to  write  upon  a  watch-chrystal,  by
means  of  a  diamond  or  sharp  bit  of  quartz.  Eye  glasses
are  also  put  to  a  similar  use  by  .those  in  the  habit  of
wearing  them ;  one  or  two  pairs  of  mock  glasses  closely
covered  with  writing,  being  carried  in,  and  shifted  about
from  the  pocket  to  the  eyes  and  from  the  eyes  to  the
table,  in  which  latter  position  the  information  engraved
upon  them  can  be  made  use  of.  If  it  be  desired  to  skin
more  extensively,  blank  sheets,  of  the  peculiar  kind  of
paper  with  which  the  tables  are  supplied,  must  be  smug
gled  out  of  the  hall  at  the  close  of  one  examination  and
smuggled  into  it  at  the  beginning  of  the  next,  after  having
been  covered  on  one  side  with  useful  facts  and  statistics,
expressed  in  the  ordinary  handwriting  of  the  skinner.
