Does Terry Pratchett refer to Napier's Bones for Logarithms here? Terry Pratchett is brilliant, and I get most of the references, but there is one I'm struggling with in Raising Steam on p13: > Dick was braced for stiff objections, but he hadn't reckoned on tears—so many tears—and as he tried to console her he added, "You, Mother, and Uncle Flavius got me an education, you got me the knowing of the numbers, including the arithmetic and weird stuff dreamed up by the philosophers in Ephebe where even camels can do logarithms on their toes. Dad didn't know this stuff. He had the right ideas but he didn't have the?.?.?.?tech-nol-ogy right." I think this refers to Napier's Bones, but it doesn't sound quite right. My question is: **Does Terry Pratchett refer to Napier's Bones for Logarithms here?**

I think a simpler alternative is to read it as a reference to circus horses which allegedly do simple arithmetic and tap out the answer with their hooves.