| Russian Abacus (Schoty) |
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| This Russian abacus from my collection is
rather old because the quarter kopek row still exists. It is also made of oak while more
modern ones usually are made of cheaper birch. The size is 25 times 40 cm: much
larger than normal chinese and japanese abacuses. There also exist smaller Russian
abacuses, but this is the most common size I have seen. Russian abacusses are different from the oriental ones. The row has only four pegs for quarter rubles. Older models (like the one in the picture) have a similar lower row for quarter kopeks, too. J.M. Pullan in his "The History of the Abacus", 1968, uses the word "Russian schoty" or only "schoty". The catalogue of the Science Museum in London uses the term "Russian abacus (stchoty)". The word schoty/stchoty is the original Russian term translitterated from Cyrillic alphabet in English." Timo Leipala. Photo is courtesy of: Timo Leipala. |
X-Number World |
