Solids on Square and Triangular Bases; a Retort on Birth
A solid on a square base is double one on a triangular base of equal height
Large ink drawings of pyramids and octahedral solids dominate the sheet, illustrating the theorem that a solid built on a square base is double the solid on a triangular base of equal height, proved through the common base a b c. Alongside runs a short moral anecdote: a worthy man reproached for illegitimate birth answers that he is legitimate by the law of nature, while his accuser is the true bastard for keeping more the habits of a beast than of a man.
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A square-based solid is double the triangular-based one
Every solid on a square base is double the solid on a triangular base of equal height. This is proved because the base a b c is common to two solids of equal height, a b c d and a b c f, and the solid a b c f is half of the square-based solid a c e f b.
A retort on legitimacy of birth
Someone reproached a worthy man for not being of legitimate birth. He answered that he was legitimate in the orders of the human species and in the law of nature, but that his accuser was the true bastard, since he had more the habits of a beast than of a man and, by the law of men, had no certainty of being legitimate.