Astounding Science Fiction (British edition) — page 57: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

SHARE OUR WORLD 35 the dials, waiting for something to happen.” There were tears in her eyes. Balch wanted to hold her and lay her head on his shoulder. Hilda’s presence wouldn’t have stopped him, but he didn’t do it because Chang was still really speaking more to herself than to him. He said quietly, “Go on. What did happen?” She leaned against the wall with her arms folded and spoke slowly. “Here are the things I’m surest of. I can make a signal which will get from the nibbly some comment about his immediate surroundings. I can’t get him to tell me the number of sticks I have laid on the floor—at least, cer- tainly not above six or seven. I can’t 4 get him to tell me anything that would indicate any abstract understanding of numbers. But, I can get him to tell me—”’ “Geometrical facts!” Balch finished. “How did you know?” she said sharply. “I remember the free ones outside —those tree-felling operations. They have to communicate geometry.” “That’s right,” Hilda and Chang said in unison. Chang went on, ““You make me a little more confident that I’m understanding him.” “I know something else he'll be able to handle just as well, when we’ve got farther with him.” “What?” Chang was entirely alert now. connicloooks.c© nn