in antiquity, a stratagem or device of the Lacedemonians, for the secret writing of letters to their correspondents, so that if they should chance to be intercepted, nobody might be able to read them.—To this end they had two wooden rollers or cylinders, perfectly alike and equal; one whereof was kept in the city, the other by the person to whom the letter was directed. For the letter, a skin of very thin parchment was wrapped round the roller, and thereon was the matter written; which done, it was taken off, and sent away to the party, who, upon putting it in the same manner upon his roller, found the lines and words in the very same disposition as when they were first written. This expedient they set a very high value on; though, in truth, artless and gross enough: the moderns have improved vastly on this method of writing. See Cipher.