Henry Ernest Dudeney/Modern Puzzles/126 - Drawing an Oval

by : $126$

 * Drawing an Oval
 * It is well-known that you can draw an ellipse by sticking two pins into the paper, enclosing them with a loop of thread,
 * and keeping the loop taut, running a pencil all the way round till you get back to the starting point.


 * Suppose you want an ellipse with a given major axis and minor axis.
 * How do you arrange the position of the pins, and what would be the length of the thread?

's original article was unnecessarily prolix.