LOGISTIC

how they call it: just as the Greeks themselves call it a myriad ten thousand; but expressing it in two words, they call it ten thousand. These myriads are composed again up to a decade: but here neither Greeks nor Latins have a proper word. The former call them ten myriads; the Latins say one hundred thousand, 100000. Pliny writes in his thirty-third book that there was no number beyond this among the ancient Latins; and thus they multiplied ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND and said ten times one hundred thousand, 1000000, twenty times one hundred thousand, 2000000, or more often. Thus, the scarcity of words disfigured this most beautiful law of nature. Therefore, these one hundred thousand lack a proper name among both Greeks and Latins; and those which are above, ten times one hundred thousand: which are one thousand times one thousand: which we French and Italians call a MILLION, from the word for thousands itself. This is the supreme name for the greatest number among us, having a place only in royal currency: the decade of which, 10000000, we call nothing other than ten Millions; nor do we call the following decade, 100000000, other than one hundred Millions. These are followed by two hundred, 200000000, three hundred, 300000000, one thousand, 1000000000, millions; two thousand, 2000000000, three thousand, 3000000000, and other thousands of millions. Those, therefore, who from the Logisticians attempt to enunciate these immense numbers, as they are noted, more conveniently than the Latins do, act in this way, with the series of three places and their property being observed everywhere. After the first comma, they say thousands: after the second, twice thousands, that is, millions: after the third, thrice thousands, that is, thousands of millions: after the fourth, four times, that is, thousands of thousands of millions: and so on, as many times as there are commas or points or any other signs, repeating the adverb "thousands" as often. For between the first and second comma, they use the substantive "thousands"; between the second and third, the adjective "millions"; between all the rest, the adverb "thousand times." They repeat these adverbs and names as many times in enunciating as there are commas before that part of the number which is being enunciated. Indeed, they enunciate the first and second part of the number, which the first sign separates, by names, and all the rest by adverbs of number. By these methods, pronounce the number placed above, starting from the left side, as is our custom. Forty-three thousand million millions...