The different Branches of Arithmetics

Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition says only this:

Needless to say, all the Mock Turtle's subjects are puns (reading, writing, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, history, geography, drawing, sketching, painting in oils, Latin, Greek). In fact, this chapter and the one to follow fairly swarm with puns. Children find puns very funny, but most contemporary authorities on what children are supposed to like believe that puns lower the literary quality of juvenile books.

Gardner then goes on to say that the "Drawling-master" is a reference to the art critic John Ruskin, and gives a couple of paragraphs of biographical information about Ruskin. Given Gardner's extensive knowledge of Carrolliana, it seems likely that Carroll never published any further comments about the "different branches of Arithmetic."


"Has anybody quoted that passage in this meaning later?" Does this qualify?

http://jennifergeldard.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/ambition-distraction-uglification-and-derision/