<s>
The	O
Copiale	B-Algorithm
cipher	I-Algorithm
is	O
an	O
encrypted	B-Application
manuscript	O
consisting	O
of	O
75,000	O
handwritten	O
characters	O
filling	O
105	O
pages	O
in	O
a	O
bound	O
volume	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
international	O
team	O
consisting	O
of	O
Kevin	O
Knight	O
of	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Southern	O
California	O
Information	O
Sciences	O
Institute	O
and	O
Viterbi	O
School	O
of	O
Engineering	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
Beáta	O
Megyesi	O
and	O
Christiane	O
Schaefer	O
of	O
Uppsala	O
University	O
in	O
Sweden	O
,	O
found	O
the	O
cipher	B-Application
to	O
be	O
an	O
encrypted	B-Application
German	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
manuscript	O
is	O
a	O
homophonic	O
cipher	B-Application
that	O
uses	O
a	O
complex	O
substitution	O
code	O
,	O
including	O
symbols	O
and	O
letters	O
,	O
for	O
its	O
text	O
and	O
spaces	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Previously	O
examined	O
by	O
scientists	O
at	O
the	O
German	O
Academy	O
of	O
Sciences	O
at	O
Berlin	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
,	O
the	O
cipher	B-Application
was	O
thought	O
to	O
date	O
from	O
between	O
1760	O
and	O
1780	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Decipherment	O
revealed	O
that	O
the	O
document	O
had	O
been	O
created	O
in	O
the	O
1730s	O
by	O
a	O
secret	O
society	O
called	O
the	O
"	O
high	O
enlightened	O
(	O
Hocherleuchtete	O
)	O
oculist	B-Algorithm
order	I-Algorithm
"	O
of	O
Wolfenbüttel	O
,	O
or	O
Oculists	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Oculists	B-Algorithm
used	O
sight	O
as	O
a	O
metaphor	O
for	O
knowledge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Copiale	B-Algorithm
cipher	I-Algorithm
includes	O
abstract	O
symbols	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
letters	O
from	O
Greek	O
and	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
Roman	O
alphabet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
only	O
plain	O
text	O
in	O
the	O
book	O
is	O
"	O
Copiales	B-Algorithm
3	O
"	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
and	O
"	O
Philipp	O
1866	O
"	O
on	O
the	O
flyleaf	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
researchers	O
found	O
that	O
the	O
initial	O
16	O
pages	O
describe	O
an	O
Oculist	B-Algorithm
initiation	O
ceremony	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Copiale	B-Algorithm
cipher	I-Algorithm
is	O
a	O
substitution	O
cipher	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
not	O
a	O
1-for-1	O
substitution	O
but	O
rather	O
a	O
homophonic	O
cipher	B-Application
:	O
each	O
ciphertext	O
character	O
stands	O
for	O
a	O
particular	O
plaintext	O
character	O
,	O
but	O
several	O
ciphertext	O
characters	O
may	O
encode	O
the	O
same	O
plaintext	O
character	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
machine	O
translation	O
expert	O
,	O
Knight	O
approached	O
language	O
translation	O
as	O
if	O
all	O
languages	O
were	O
ciphers	B-Application
,	O
effectively	O
treating	O
foreign	O
words	O
as	O
symbols	O
for	O
English	O
words	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
His	O
approach	O
,	O
which	O
tasked	O
an	O
expectation-maximization	B-Algorithm
algorithm	I-Algorithm
with	O
generating	O
every	O
possible	O
match	O
of	O
foreign	O
and	O
English	O
words	O
,	O
enabled	O
the	O
algorithm	O
to	O
figure	O
out	O
a	O
few	O
words	O
with	O
each	O
pass	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Megyesi	O
later	O
realized	O
that	O
a	O
particular	O
symbol	O
meant	O
"	O
eye	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
Schaefer	O
connected	O
that	O
discovery	O
to	O
the	O
Oculists	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Oculists	B-Algorithm
were	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
ophthalmologists	O
led	O
by	O
Count	O
Friedrich	O
August	O
von	O
Veltheim	O
,	O
who	O
died	O
in	O
April	O
1775	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Philipp	O
1866	O
Copiales	B-Algorithm
3	O
document	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
appears	O
to	O
suggest	O
that	O
the	O
Oculists	B-Algorithm
,	O
or	O
at	O
least	O
Count	O
Veltheim	O
,	O
were	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
Freemasons	O
who	O
created	O
the	O
Oculist	B-Algorithm
society	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
pass	O
along	O
the	O
Masonic	O
rites	O
which	O
had	O
recently	O
been	O
banned	O
by	O
Pope	O
Clement	O
XII	O
.	O
</s>
