[In England and Australia] during parliamentary sessions, if there is a disagreement about a matter then a vote must be taken. At this point,The Division Bell is rung for some time, and during that time every parliamentarian who is eligable to vote must proceed to the house. When the Division Bell stops sounding, the doors are shut and so if you're late you miss out on casting your vote. The use of this for the title was suggested by Douglas Adams (author of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" radio show, book series, TV show, and computer game, among other things), which is why he is listed in the album's credits. Adams made the suggestion in exchange for Gilmour donating a certain sum of money to a charity of Adams'. Adams has also said that Gilmour asked him to fool around with the lyrics a bit, but that none of his suggestions were actually used on the album. Douglas Adams also appeared at the October 28th Earl's Court show, playing acoustic guitar on "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse."

+ There appears to be many small variations in the length of the album and songs. I've heard of lengths ranging from 66:30 to 66:33. Finally, the following is from Demetri S. Mouratis: I own both the English and US CD's of TDB. I found that there were some audio glitches on the English version, that were not on the US. Mainly, if you listen VERY carefully at the end of TIB through the beginning of CBTL, you will hear pops/buzzing that sounds like someone jiggling a cord. Also around 1:55 into CBTL you can hear a fair pop in the left channel.

During the TDB U.S. tour, someone describing himself as a messenger, and using the common Latin name Publius, started posting anonymously to the newsgroup, using the following subject line or variations:

NOTE: The name Publius was also used as a pseudonym early in U.S. history by the writers of The Federalist Papers. John Jay, James Madison, and James Monroe wrote under one name to promote discussion of an idea. The posts continue on an irregular basis, with a mysterious tone and many ambiguous clues, inviting us to look at the new album with open minds, discuss it in the newsgroup, and investigate some sort of enigma or puzzle in The Division Bell music, lyrics, art, and other tour materials. Publius says a tangible prize is to be found. The newsgroup was generally pretty annoyed by the posts, but on July 16, Publius told us to watch for a sign: flashing white lights, East Rutherford, New Jersey, July 18, at about 10:30 p.m. At the Pink Floyd show in N.J. that night, "ENIGMA PUBLIUS" was displayed from the foot of the stage by the lights they use during KT and ABitW. Then, some people accepted the idea that Publius was a messenger with some connection to the band and began to take the enigma seriously. Many theories have been entertained, but we don't know who Publius is. Publius says that his/her/their identity is unimportant. Douglas Adams, the friend of the band who suggested the name of the album, has said that he is not involved and is not aware of any involvement by the band members. Another sign was later predicted by Publius, and on October 20 the word "ENIGMA" was projected in large letters on the back of the stage during the beginning of "Another Brick in the Wall, pt.2" during a show at Earls Court in London. This show was televised in Europe the same night, and in the U.S. on November 1. A further "clue" was also found in the booklet of the MiniDisc release of _A Momentary Lapse of Reason_. On one photo is the plain white text "ENIGMA," and on another "PUBLIUS." Guitar World magazine received a packet of newsgroup articles about the enigma by anonymous mail and a writer collected information from the newsgroup via email. The resulting article in the January 1995 issue unfortunately features artwork that confuses newcomers to this investigation. The pictures depicting clues hidden in the TDB cover art are purely fictional products of the artist's imagination. This is how the situation now stands. If you wish to take part in the enigma discussions, the main forum for them is the alt.music.pink-floyd newsgroup. Because of polarizing effect Publius discussion produces, it is requested that, if you wish to discuss the enigma, you include the word "Publius" in the subject header of your post. Likewise, if you have no interest in reading Publius-related posts, put the word "Publius" in the kill file of your newsreader (or simply don't read posts with that subject.) For those wishing to learn more about Publius, check out what's available in the "publius" file area of echoserv. There you will find a history of past Publius posts, as well as some summaries of past solution theories.