How was the function of division performed within the architecture of the Stepped Reckoner?

Essentially as repeated subtraction facilitated by the same mechanism

The Stepped Reckoner was designed to handle addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, utilizing its core mechanism—the stepped drum—to achieve these varied functions. For division, the machine did not employ a radically different mechanism; instead, it leveraged the existing architecture to perform the inverse operation of multiplication, which is subtraction. Division on the Stepped Reckoner was implemented as repeated subtraction, though this process was facilitated and structured by the same geared system that handled the direct multiplication operation, making it far more systematic than manual subtraction.