Editing Transposition cipher (section)

== Scytale ==

The rail fence cipher follows a pattern similar to that of the [[scytale]], (pronounced "SKIT-uhl-ee") a mechanical system of producing a transposition cipher used by the [[ancient Greeks]]. The system consisted of a cylinder and a ribbon that was wrapped around the cylinder. The message to be encrypted was written on the coiled ribbon. The letters of the original message would be rearranged when the ribbon was uncoiled from the cylinder. However, the message was easily decrypted when the ribbon recoiled on a cylinder of the same diameter as the encrypting cylinder.<ref>{{citation|first=Laurence Dwight|last=Smith|title=Cryptography / The Science of Secret Writing|year=1955|orig-year=1943|publisher=Dover|place=New York|pages=16, 92–93}}</ref> Using the same example as before, if the cylinder has a radius such that only three letters can fit around its circumference, the cipherer writes out:

 W . . E . . A . . R . . E . . D . . I . . S . . C
 . O . . V . . E . . R . . E . . D . . F . . L . .
 . . E . . E . . A . . T . . O . . N . . C . . E .

In this example, the cylinder is running horizontally and the ribbon is wrapped around vertically. Hence, the cipherer then reads off:

 WOEEV EAEAR RTEEO DDNIF CSLEC