Chapter III: Part 3

Small Capitals are in general cast to Roman founts only, and are used for the purpose of giving a stronger emphasis to a word than that conveyed by Italic. They are likewise used for running heads, heads of chapters, &c. The first word of every section or chapter is commonly put in small capitals; but when a two-line initial letter is used, the remainder of the word should be in capitals.

The small capitals C, O, S, V, W, X, Z so closely resemble the same letters in the lower case, that care is required to prevent intermixing.

In manuscript, small capitals are denoted by _two lines_ drawn under the words.

Italic words are designated by a _single stroke_ underneath.

POINTS.

Points consist of a comma, semicolon, colon, period or full-point, mark of interrogation, and mark of admiration. Shortly after the invention of printing, the necessity of stops or pauses in sentences for the guidance of the reader produced the colon and full-point. In process of time, the comma was added, which was then merely a perpendicular line, proportioned to the body of the letter. These three points were the only ones used till the close of the fifteenth century, when Aldo Manuccio gave a better shape to the comma, and added the semicolon; the comma denoting the shortest pause, the semicolon next, then the colon, and the full-point terminating the sentence. The marks of interrogation and admiration were introduced many years after.

Perhaps there never existed on any subject a greater difference of opinion among men of learning than on the true mode of punctuation. Some sprinkle the page with commas almost as promiscuously as if from a pepper-box, and make the pause of a semicolon where the sense will bear only a comma; while others are extremely careless, and omit points even when they are needed to give the true sense of a passage at the first reading.

The lack of an established practice is much to be regretted. The loss of time to a compositor occasioned by altering points arbitrarily is a great hardship. Manuscripts are often placed in the printer’s hands without being properly prepared: either the writing is illegible, the spelling incorrect, or the punctuation defective. Unless the author will take entirely on himself the responsibility of the pointing, it will be better to omit every point in the copy, except at the end of a sentence, rather than confuse the mind of the compositor by commas and semicolons placed indiscriminately, in the hurry of writing, without any regard to propriety.[10]

The COMMA [,] divides the clauses of a long or involved sentence, and commonly marks the shortest pause in reading.

Commas are used to denote extracts or quotations from other works, dialogue matter, or passages or expressions not original, by placing two of them inverted before the first word of the passage quoted, the ending being denoted by two apostrophes. A thin space is used to keep the inverted commas free from the matter. The method of running them down the sides to the end of the quotation has been found inconvenient, especially where a quotation occurs within a quotation, or a speech within a speech: the proper method of distinguishing these is by placing a single inverted comma before the extra quotation, and concluding with a single apostrophe. Where both quotations end together, put three apostrophes, observing after the first to place a thin space.

Inverted commas were first used by Guillemet, a Frenchman, to supersede the use of Italic letter in emphasized words. As an acknowledgment, his countrymen call them after his name. French founders cast them double, thus [«»]. MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan, Philadelphia, furnish them in this way when desired.

A single comma inverted is improperly used as an abbreviation of the word Mac, as in M’Gowen: c is preferable, as McGowen.

The SEMICOLON [;] denotes a pause greater than that of a comma, and is used between dependent clauses of compound sentences.

The COLON [:] is employed in a sentence between clauses less connected than those which are divided by a semicolon, but not so independent as separate, distinct sentences.

The PERIOD or FULL-POINT [.] serves to indicate the end of a complete sentence. When used in abbreviations, it has no effect as a full stop in the punctuation, unless at the end of a sentence. In some works this point is discarded as a mark of abbreviation, as in Mr Dr &c.

Full-points are sometimes used as leaders in tables of contents, figure-work, &c.; but dotted rules or leaders are more economical for this purpose, as they save considerable time in the composition.

The sign of INTERROGATION [?] is used to denote a question. Every interrogation or question should begin with a capital letter, (unless several questions follow one another in connected succession,) according to the method observed in the Bible, where questions and responses, and the beginning of sayings, &c. are denoted by a capital letter.

The sign of ADMIRATION or EXCLAMATION [!] denotes surprise, astonishment, rapture, and other sudden emotions of the mind, whether of joy or sorrow. This sign is put after the interjections Ah! Alas! Oh! &c.; but there are exceptional cases, as, Ah me! Alas the day! &c.

All the points, except the comma and the period, should be preceded by a hair-space; the comma and full-point do not require any space to bear them off.

The em dash [—], though not ranked as a point, is often used by careless writers as a substitute for a comma or semicolon. It may be properly employed in parenthetical sentences, and in rhapsodical writing abounding in disconnected sentences.

A dash stands for a sign of repetition in catalogues of goods, where it implies _ditto_; and in catalogues of books, where a dash signifies _ejusdem_, instead of repeating the author’s name with the title of every separate treatise of his writing. A sign of repetition should never appear at the top of a page, but the name of the author, or of the merchandise, should be set out again at length.

A dash likewise stands for _to_; as, chap. xvi. 3-17; that is, from the third to the seventeenth verse inclusive. At other times it serves for an index, to give notice that what follows it is a corollary of what has preceded; thus:—

APOSTROPHE.

The apostrophe [’] is a comma cast on the upper edge of a type, and is used as a sign of contraction or abbreviation of words in poetry or familiar conversation, as _We’re_, _o’er_, _don’t_, &c. In poetry, it should not be employed where the verb ends with e, as _love_, _change_, &c., but only in cases where the verb concludes with a consonant, as, _reign_, _obtain_, &c. It also marks the elision of a vowel at the beginning of words, as, _’scape_, or of a syllable, as, _’prentice_.

The monosyllables _though_ and _through_ are sometimes shortened to _tho’_ and _thro’_, but very improperly, as they retain the same sound, and the abbreviation cannot in the slightest degree assist the versification.

Words in the possessive case are generally known by having _’s_ for their termination.

All quotations which are denoted at the beginning by inverted commas are closed with apostrophes. There is no space required between the apostrophe and the matter.

HYPHEN.

A hyphen is a sign of connection, and denotes that the part of a word at the end of a line belongs to the portion at the beginning of the next line.

A compositor who studies propriety and neatness in his work will not allow an unnecessary division, even in a narrow measure, if he can avoid it by overrunning two or three lines of matter. In large type and narrow measures, the division of words cannot be avoided; but care should be taken that hyphens do not occur at the end of successive lines. In small type and wide measures, the hyphen may frequently be dispensed with, either by driving out or getting in the word, without interfering with the regularity of the spacing. The compositor who is careful on this point will find his advantage in the preference given to his work, and in the respect attached to his character as a master of his business. Numerous divisions down the side of a page and irregular spacing are the two greatest defects in composition.

It is proper, if possible, to keep the derivative or radical word undivided: as, _occur-rence_, _gentle-man_, _respect-ful_, &c. In other cases, printers generally divide on the vowel, which is an excellent method.

The hyphen is also used to connect compound words, which are formed of two substantives, as, _bird-cage_, _love-letter_, &c.; also what are termed compound adjectives, as, _well-built_ house, _handsome-faced_ child, &c.

The prepositions _after_, _before_, _over_, &c. are often connected with other words, but do not always make a proper compound: thus, _before-mentioned_ is a compound when it precedes a substantive, as, in the _before-mentioned_ place; but when it comes after a noun, as, in the place _before mentioned_, it should be two distinct words.[11]

PARENTHESIS AND BRACKET.

The use of the PARENTHESIS ( ) is to enclose interpolated words or sentences which serve to strengthen the argument, although the main sentence would be complete without the interpolated matter.

Parentheses are not as much used as formerly: authors place their intercalations between commas,—frequently with a dash at the beginning and ending,—which make them quite as intelligible as though they were enclosed between parentheses.

Brackets [ ] are seldom made use of, except to indicate that the word enclosed within them had been carelessly omitted in the old MS. or copy, and was now inserted by the editor.

REFERENCES.

References are marks and signs employed to direct the attention of the reader to notes in the margin or at the bottom of a page.

The characters technically known by printers as references are the following, which are used in the order here given:—

Asterisk *
Dagger †
Double Dagger ‡
Section §
Parallel ∥
Paragraph ¶

In Roman church-books, the Asterisk divides each verse of a psalm into two parts, and marks the place where the responses begin: this in the Book of Common Prayer is denoted by a colon placed between the two parts of each verse. Asterisks also denote an omission, or an hiatus in the original copy; the number of asterisks being multiplied according to the extent of the omission.

The Dagger, originally termed the Obelisk, or Long Cross, is frequently used in Roman Catholic church-books, prayers of exorcism, at the benediction of bread, water, and fruit, and upon other occasions, where the priest is to make the sign of the cross; but the square cross (✠) is the proper symbol for the purpose. The square cross is used, besides, in the pope’s briefs, and in mandates of archbishops and bishops, immediately before the signature of their names. It is not placed among references.

Besides its use as a reference mark, the Paragraph is now employed chiefly in Bibles, to show the parts into which a chapter is divided. In Common Prayer Books, paragraphs are put before the lines that direct the order of the service, and which are called the Rubrics because they were formerly printed in red.

The neatest references, when many are required in books, are either superior letters or superior figures,—thus, ¹, ², ³, or thus, ᵃ, ᵇ, ᶜ. Superior letters are used chiefly in Bibles and other books which have more than one sort of notes, and therefore require different references. When thus used, the letter ʲ should be omitted, as, from its similarity to the ⁱ, the reader might at times be led into error.

ACCENTED LETTERS.

Letters called accented by printers are the five vowels, marked thus:—

Acute á é í ó ú
Grave à è ì ò ù
Circumflex â ê î ô û
Diæresis ä ë ï ö ü
Long ā ē ī ō ū
Short ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ

We may include the French ç, the Spanish ñ, the Portuguese ã and õ, the Swedish and Norwegian å and ö, and the Welsh ŵ and ŷ.

NUMERAL LETTERS.

The Greeks at first employed the letters of the entire alphabet to express the first twenty-four numbers; but the system was cumbrous, and they adopted the happy expedient of dividing their alphabet into three portions, using the first to symbolize the 9 digits, the second the 9 tens, and the third the 9 hundreds; and, as their alphabet contained only twenty-four letters, they invented three additional symbols. Their list of symbols then stood as follows:—

+-----------------+----------------------+---------------------+
| Units. | Tens. | Hundreds. |
+-----------------+----------------------+---------------------+
|α represents 1|ι represents 10|ρ represents 100|
|β 2|κ 20|σ 200|
|γ 3|λ 30|τ 300|
|δ 4|μ 40|υ 400|
|ε 5|ν 50|φ 500|
|ϝ (introduced) 6|ξ 60|χ 600|
|ζ 7|ο 70|ψ 700|
|η 8|π 80|ω 800|
|θ or ϑ 9|Ϟ or ϟ (introduced) 90|ϡ, [symb], [symb] |
| | | (introd’d) 900|
+-----------------+----------------------+---------------------+

By these symbols, only numbers under 1000 could be expressed; but, by putting a mark called iota under any symbol, its value was increased a thousand-fold: thus, ᾳ = 1000, κͅ = 20,000; or, by subscribing the letter Μ, the value of a symbol was raised ten thousand-fold. For these two marks, single and double dots were afterward substituted. This improvement enabled them to express with facility all numbers as high as 9,990,000,—a range sufficient for all ordinary purposes.

It has been supposed that the Romans used M to denote 1000 because it is the first letter of Mille, which is Latin for 1000; and C to denote 100, it being the first letter of Centum, the Latin term for 100. Some also suppose that D, being formed by dividing the old M in the middle, was therefore appointed to stand for 500,—that is, half as much as the M stood for when it was whole; and that L being half a C, was, for the same reason, used to denominate 50. But the most natural account of the matter appears to be this:—

The Romans probably put down a single stroke, Ⅰ, for one, as is still the practice of those who score on a slate, or with chalk; this stroke they doubled, trebled, and quadrupled, to express two, three, and four: thus, ⅠⅠ, ⅠⅠⅠ, ⅠⅠⅠⅠ. So far they could easily number the strokes with a glance of the eye; but they found that if more were added it would be necessary to count the strokes one by one: for this reason, when they came to five, it was expressed by joining two strokes together in an acute angle, thus, Ⅴ.

After they had made this acute angle, Ⅴ, for five, they then added single strokes to the number of four, thus, ⅤⅠ, ⅤⅠⅠ, ⅤⅠⅠⅠ, ⅤⅠⅠⅠ, and then, as the strokes could not be further multiplied without confusion, they doubled their acute angle by prolonging the two lines beyond their intersection, thus, Ⅹ, to denote two fives, or ten. After they had doubled, trebled, and quadrupled this double acute angle, thus, ⅩⅩ, ⅩⅩⅩ, ⅩⅩⅩⅩ, they then, for the same reason which induced them to make a single angle first, and then to double it, joined two single strokes in another form, and, instead of an acute angle, made a right angle, Ⅼ, to denote fifty. When this was doubled, they then doubled the right angle, thus, ⊏, to denote one hundred, and, having numbered this double right angle four times, thus, ⊏⊏, ⊏⊏⊏, ⊏⊏⊏⊏, when they came to the fifth number, as before, they reverted it, and put a single stroke before it, thus, Ⅰ⊐, to denote five hundred; and, when this five hundred was doubled, then they also doubled their double right angle, setting two double right angles opposite to each other, with a single stroke between them, thus, ⊏Ⅰ⊐, to denote one thousand: when this note for one thousand had been repeated four times, they then put down Ⅰ⊐⊐ for five thousand, ⊏⊏Ⅰ⊐⊐ for ten thousand, and Ⅰ⊐⊐⊐ for fifty thousand.

The corners of the angles being cut off by transcribers for despatch, these figures were gradually brought into what are now called numerical letters. When the corners of ⊏Ⅰ⊐ were made round, it stood thus, ⅭⅠↃ, which is so near the Gothic ന that it soon deviated into that character; so that Ⅰ⊐ having the corners made round stood thus, ⅠↃ, and then easily deviated into D. ⊏ also became a plain C by the same means: the single rectangle, which denoted fifty, was, without any alteration, a capital L; the double acute angle was an X; the single acute angle, a V; and a plain single stroke, the letter I. And thus these seven letters, M, D, C, L, X, V, I, became numerals. As a further proof of this assertion, let it be considered that ⅭⅠↃ is still used for one thousand, and ⅠↃ for five hundred, instead of M and D; and this mark, ന, is sometimes used to denote one thousand, which may easily be derived from this figure, ⊏Ⅰ⊐, but cannot be deviations from, or corruptions of, the Roman letter M. The Romans also expressed any number of thousands by a line drawn over any numeral less than one thousand: thus, V̅ denotes five thousand, L̅X̅ sixty thousand; so, likewise, M̅ is one million, M̅M̅ two millions, &c.

Upon the discovery of printing, and before capitals were invented, small letters served for numerals; not only when Gothic characters were in vogue, but when Roman had become the prevailing character. Thus, in early times, ~i~ ~b~ ~x~ ~l~ ~c~ ~d~ ~m~ were, and in Roman type are still, of the same signification as capitals when used as numerals. Though the capital J is not a numeral letter, yet the lower-case ~j~ is as often and as significantly used as the vowel ~i~, especially where the former is employed as a closing letter, in ~ij~ ~iij~ ~bj~ ~bij~ ~biij~ ~dcij~, &c. In Roman lower-case numerals, the j is not regarded, but the i stands for figure 1 wherever it is used numerically.

During the existence of the French Republic, books were dated in France from the first year of the Republic: thus An. XII. (1803,) or twelve years from 1792.

ARITHMETICAL FIGURES.

The arithmetical or Arabic numerals are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Properly they should be styled Hindu or Indian numerals; for the Arabs borrowed them, along with the decimal system of notation, from the Hindus. They were probably first introduced from the East into Italy about 1202; yet they did not come into general use before the invention of printing. Accounts were kept in Roman numerals up to the sixteenth century. Figures are usually made one en thick; but of late a broader figure is cast for newspaper use, which is two-thirds or six-sevenths of an em in width.

OLD STYLE FIGURES.

Though uniform in height and appearance, we do not deem the modern figures an improvement on the variously-lining figures formerly in vogue, and now happily coming again into use. The latter can be caught by the eye with greater ease and certainty, just as lower-case letter can be read with more facility than continuous lines of capitals. In the new style the 3 and 8 may easily be mistaken for each other, and so with the 6, 9, and 0; but in the old style figures such errors are quite unlikely to happen, as some of them occupy the centre of the body only, and others are ascending or descending characters. The example here given will show the justice of our remarks:

~1~ ~2~ ~3~ ~4~ ~5~ ~6~ ~7~ ~8~ ~9~ ~0~

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

SCRATCHED OR CANCELLED FIGURES

1̷ 2̷ 3̷ 4̷ 5̷ 6̷ 7̷ 8̷ 9̷ 0̷

Are used in arithmetical matter when certain figures require to be crossed over in an operation.

FRACTIONS.

Common Fractions, or broken numbers in arithmetic, are cast solid to all sizes of type. A great improvement has been introduced by casting the numerator and denominator separately, on bodies of half size, with the line on the under figure, so that odd fractions of any amount may be readily formed, thus: ¹ ² ³ ⁄₂ ⁄₃ ⁄₄ ½ ⅔ ¾.

SIGNS.

COMMERCIAL SIGNS.

⅌ _Per_, each.
@ At or to.
% Percentum.
℀ Account.
¢ Cent.
$ Dollar or dollars.
£ _Libra_, _libræ_, pound or pounds sterling.
/ _Solidus_, _solidi_, shilling or shillings.

MATHEMATICAL, ALGEBRAICAL, AND GEOMETRICAL.

+ _plus_, or _more_, is the sign of real existence of the quantity it stands before, and is called an affirmative or positive sign. It is also the mark of addition: thus, _a_+_b_, or 6+9, implies that _a_ is to be added to _b_, or 6 added to 9.

− _minus_, or _less_, before a single quantity, is the sign of negation, or negative existence, showing the quantity to which it is prefixed to be less than nothing. But between quantities it is the sign of subtraction: thus, _a_−_b_, or 8−4, implies _b_ subtracted from _a_, or 8 after 4 has been subtracted.

= _equal_. The sign of equality, though Des Cartes and some others use this mark, ∝: thus, _a_=_b_ signifies that _a_ is equal to _b_. Others use the mark = to denote identity of ratios.

× _into_ or _with_. The sign of multiplication, showing that the quantities on each side the same are to be multiplied by one another: as, _a_×_b_ is to be read, _a_ multiplied into _b_; 4×8, the product of 4 multiplied into 8. Wolfius and others use a dot between the two factors: thus, 7·4 signifies the product of 7 and 4. In algebra the sign is commonly omitted, and the two quantities put together: thus, _bd_ expresses the product of _b_ and _d_. When one or both of the factors are compounded of several letters, they are distinguished by a line drawn over them: thus, the factum of _a_+_b_-_c_ into _d_ is written, _d_ × _a̅_+̅_b̅__-̅c̅_. Others distinguish the compound factors by including them in parentheses: thus, (_a_+_b_-_c_)_d_.

÷ _by_. The sign of division: thus, _a_÷_b_ denotes the quantity _a_ to be divided by _b_. Wolfius makes the sign of division two dots; 12:4 denotes the quotient of 12 divided by 4 = 3.

> or ⫍ are signs of majority: thus, _a_>_b_ expresses that _a_ is greater than _b_.

< or ⫎ are signs of minority,—when we would denote that _a_ is less than _b_.

∞ is the character of similitude used by Wolfius, Leibnitz, and others. It is used in other authors for the difference between two quantities when it is unknown which is the greater of the two.

∷ _so is_. The mark of geometrical proportion disjunct, and is usually placed between two pair of equal ratios: as, 3∶6∷4∶8 shows that 3 is to 6 as 4 is to 8.

∶ or ∴ is an arithmetical equal proportion: as, 7.3∶13.9; _i. e._ 7 is more than 3, as 13 is more than 9.

⬜ quadrate, or regular quadrangle,—viz. ⬜AB=⬜BC; _i. e._ the quadrangle upon the line AB is equal to the quadrangle upon the line BC.

△ triangle: as, △ABC=△ADC.

∠ an angle: as, ∠ABC=∠ADC.

⟂ perpendicular: as, AB⟂BC.

▭ rectangled parallelogram, or the product of two lines.

∥ the character of parallelism.

⧧ want of parallelism.

≚ equiangular, or similar.

⫨ equilateral.

▱ rhomboid.

◠ concentrix.

○ circle.

∟ right angle.

∫ integration, (_summa_ or sum).

° denotes a degree: thus, 45° implies 45 degrees.

´ a minute: thus, 50´ is 50 minutes; ´´, ´´´, ´´´´, denote seconds, thirds, and fourths; and the same characters are used where the progressions are by tens, as it is here by sixties.

∺ the mark of geometrical proportion continued, implies the ratio to be still carried on without interruption: as, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 ∺ are in the same uninterrupted proportion.

√ When used without a figure above it, indicates the square root, and is called the radical sign. Any other root is expressed by the index figure placed above the sign. √16 is the square root of 16, ∛27 the cube root of 27, &c.

≅ difference equal.

∹ the difference, or excess.

Q or q, a square.

C or c, a cube.

QQ, the ratio of a square number to a square number.

In algebraical work, authors should be very exact in their copy, and compositors as careful in following it, so that no alterations may be necessary after it is composed, the over-running of this kind of matter being troublesome and costly.

CELESTIAL AND ASTRONOMICAL SIGNS.

_The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac._

♈ Aries.
♉ Taurus.
♊ Gemini.
♋ Cancer.
♌ Leo.
♍ Virgo.
♎ Libra.
♏ Scorpio.
♐ Sagittarius.
♑ Capricornus.
♒ Aquarius.
♓ Pisces.

_The Sun and Major Planets._

☉ Sun.
☿ Mercury.
♀ Venus.
🜨 Earth.
♂ Mars.
♃ Jupiter.
♄ Saturn.
⛢ Uranus.
♇ Neptune.

⚳ Ceres, ⚴ Pallas, ⚵ Juno, ⚶ Vesta, [symb] Astræa, [symb] Hebe, [symb] Iris, and the other asteroids, or minor planets, are now commonly designated by a circle enclosing a number which indicates the order of their discovery: thus, ①, ②, ③, &c.

_Lunar Signs._

🌚 New Moon.
🌛 First Quarter.
🌝 Full Moon.
🌜 Last Quarter.

_Aspects and Nodes._

☌ Conjunction; happens when two planets stand under each other in the same sign and degree.

☍ Opposition; happens when two planets stand diametrically opposite each other.

△ Trine; happens when one planet stands from another four signs, or 120 degrees, which make one-third of the ecliptic.

□ Quartile; happens when two planets stand three signs from each other, which make 90 degrees, or the fourth part of the ecliptic.

⚹ Sextile; is the sixth part of the ecliptic, which is two signs, and make 60 degrees.

☊ The Dragon’s Head, or ascending node, and

☋ The Dragon’s Tail, or descending node, are the two points in which the eclipses happen.

_Planets that denote the Seven Days of the Week._

_Dies Solis_—Sunday.
_Dies Lunæ_—Monday.
_Dies Martis_—Tuesday.
_Dies Mercurii_—Wednesday.
_Dies Jovis_—Thursday.
_Dies Veneris_—Friday.
_Dies Saturni_—Saturday.

Many signs and symbols have been invented by pseudo-astronomers to impose upon the credulity of the ignorant; among which are signs to give notice on what day it is proper to let blood, to bathe and to cup, to sow and to plant, to take physic, to have one’s hair cut, to cut one’s nails, to wean children, and many other absurdities; as well as symbols that serve to indicate hail, thunder, lightning, or any occult phenomena.

ECCLESIASTICAL SIGNS.

℟ Response, used in prayer-books.

℣ Versicle, used in prayer-books to denote the part recited by the priest.

✠ or ✝ A sign of the cross employed by Roman Catholic ecclesiastical dignitaries before their signatures. In Roman Catholic prayer-books, it also denotes the place where the priest is to make the sign of the cross.

* Used in Roman Catholic prayer-books to denote the place in a single verse where the response begins.

MEDICAL SIGNS AND ABBREVIATIONS.

℞ stands for _Recipe_, or Take.

ā, aa, of each a like quantity.

℔ a pound.

℥ an ounce.

ʒ a drachm.

℈ a scruple.

j stands for 1; ij for 2; iij for 3; and so on.

ss. signifies _semi_, or half.

gr. denotes a grain.

P. stands for _particula_, a little part, and means so much as can be taken between the ends of two fingers.

P. æq. stands for _partes æquales_, or equal parts.

q. s. _quantum sufficit_, or as much as is sufficient.

q. p. _quantum placit_, or as much as you please.

s. a. _secundem artem_, or according to art.

METAL RULES OR DASHES.

Metal Rules or dashes, [⸺] like quadrates, are commonly cast from one em to three ems in length. When cast to line and join accurately, they may be used instead of brass rule.

BRACES.

Braces [⏞] are used chiefly in tables of accounts, botanical and geological tables, and similar matter. They are placed before or after a series of items of similar import; and are sometimes used horizontally in the margin, to cut off a chronological or other series from the proper notes or marginal references of the work. Braces, two, three, and four ems in length, are now cast for all sizes of common type.

_Middles_ and _ends_ are also cast, [[symb]] which can be filled out with dashes to any length required for the brace. Middles and ends are convenient in genealogical tables, in which they are used the flat way, and in which the directing point is not always in the middle.

Brass braces of any length, for music and jobbing purposes, are furnished by type-founders.

SPACES.

Spaces are short blank types, and are used to separate one word from another. To enable the compositor to space even and to justify with nicety, they are cast to various thicknesses,—viz. five to an em, [[symb]] or five thin spaces; four to an em, [[symb]] or four middle spaces; three to an em, [[symb]] or three thick spaces; and two to an em, [[symb]] or two en quadrates, which may with propriety be reckoned among the number of spaces. Besides these, there is what is called the hair-space, which is cast extremely thin, and is found useful in justifying lines and assisting uniformity in spacing.

TWO-LINE LETTERS

Are equal in depth to two lines of the type in which they are to be used, and of proportionate width. They form the almost only proper type for principal lines in title-pages, and are used at the beginning of chapters and newspaper advertisements.

QUADRATES.

An em quadrate [■] is a short blank type, in thickness equal to the square of the letter of the fount to which it belongs; an en quadrate [▮] is half that size.

The first line of a paragraph is usually indented an em quadrate; but when the matter is leaded or the measure is wide, an em and en, or two or even three ems may be used. An em quadrate is the proper space after a full-point when it terminates a sentence in a paragraph.

En quadrates are generally used after the semicolon, colon, &c., and sometimes after an overhanging letter. They are useful in spacing.

Em and en quadrates, and figures as well, should be entirely exact and uniform in body, as even a trifling variation will be apparent when they are arranged in table or figure-work; and no ingenuity on the part of a compositor can rectify the zigzag appearance caused by irregular types.

The inconvenience arising from founts of the same body not agreeing in depth is great, where the quadrates, through necessity, are sometimes mixed. The founts cast by MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan are not liable to this charge, as their moulds for all regular type of a specific size harmonize perfectly, and the quadrates and spaces work together.

QUOTATIONS.

Quotations are large blank type used for filling up considerable spaces at the beginning or end of a chapter, and also for job-work. They are cast to two sizes, and are called broad and narrow. They vary in size according to the standard of the foundry where they are cast. They are being superseded, however, by

This is cast with great accuracy to Pica, of assorted widths and lengths; and, as its name imports, it serves not only for quotations in general job-work, but also for furniture.

Owing to the large assortment of sizes contained in this furniture, it is useful for blanking out all varieties of work, from the card or circular to the large hand-bill or poster. As the above metal furnitures are not liable to warp or shrink, they form a highly economical substitute for wooden reglet.

Answer many of the purposes of quotations, but are principally useful as frames or miniature chases for circular or oval jobs. The sizes are graduated from 5 × 8 to 12 × 18 Pica ems.

These are made of various sizes, so as to form circles or parts of circles from one to twenty-four inches in diameter. Each piece is exactly one-eighth of a full circle, and, when combined with similar pieces, will form quarter, half, three-quarter, and full circles. By reversing the combination of some of the pieces, serpentine and eccentric curves may be made of any length or depth.

There are two kinds: _inner quadrates_, with convex surface, and _outer quadrates_, with concave surface. The curved line is produced by placing the convex and concave surfaces parallel to each other, so that when locked up firmly they hold the type inserted between them. The other sides of the quadrates are flat and right-angled, to allow a close introduction of type, and an easy justification with common quadrates.

As these quadrates are perfect segments of a large circle, they cannot be increased or diminished without destroying the truth of the curve. If the thin ends are pieced out with common quadrates, good justification will be rendered impossible; if they are shortened by cutting off, they are ruined. Bits of lead or short pieces of card between the curved surfaces are also wrong: they destroy that exact parallelism which is necessary for the security of the type. Very accurate justification of the outer extremities of the quadrates is also indispensable. If the curved surfaces are kept parallel, and the flat surfaces kept square, no difficulty will be found in using them, and they will prove a valuable aid in ornamental printing.

LABOUR-SAVING CURVATURES, &c.

Morris’s Adjustable Line Formers, or Labour-Saving Curvatures, do away with bent leads, plaster, wax, and other methods of making curved lines. Their economical advantages, and the neatness and exactitude of curve secured by their use, will be appreciated at a glance by all practical job printers.

LEADS.

Leads form an essential part of a printer’s outfit, since it is scarcely possible to set up a single page or job in which they may not be usefully employed; but their chief purpose is for spreading the lines apart so as to reduce the amount of matter in a page. Fine works are always thus leaded. They are usually cast by letter-founders in a long mould, and then cut to the required lengths. The bodies are regulated by Pica standard, and they are usually cast four, six, or eight to Pica, but are occasionally varied from one down to fourteen to Pica. Leads for jobbing purposes are now cut to graduated lengths, like labour-saving rule.

FLOWERS AND BORDERS.

The flowers and borders designed and cast at the present time far surpass any made by founders of earlier days. Their richness and variety enable printers to execute delicate and elaborate work, rivalling plate engraving, and afford a wide scope for the display of taste and artistic skill. The combination borders are especially valuable from being cast on uniform bodies, thus rendering them susceptible of a vast number of changes.

The ancient practice of ornamenting pages with head and tail pieces of flowers and odd designs seems to be coming in vogue again, particularly in works printed in the old-style type.

BRASS RULES.

Rules are required mainly for table-work, and for pages which contain two or more columns. They are also useful in titles and jobs. Brass rules should never be more than type height, unless for perforating purposes, to divide railroad checks, &c. A shade lower would be often better, as the pressman would be enabled to bring off their impression more clearly. In table-work, the rule and figures should be separated by a lead, and all the rules should fit closely and accurately.

The lately-invented

BRASS LABOUR-SAVING RULE

is of immense economical advantage to the printer. Being cut to a graduated scale, from one em to fifty ems Pica in length, advancing in the shorter pieces by ens and in the longer by ems, all waste in cutting is avoided by the printer, as rules of any length can be formed by employing two or more pieces. This rule is put up in regular founts, of various styles, with sufficient mitred pieces for outside bordering.

Metal space-rules, cast by type-founders, are commonly used for cross-rules in table-work; but the shorter pieces of labour-saving rule will answer as well.

On the next page we insert a plan of a case for labour-saving rules, with boxes suited for the various sizes, in which the rule should be kept when not in use.

EARLIEST WRITTEN SOUNDS.

The hieroglyphic is the most ancient form of written sounds. The earliest known monuments containing phonetic hieroglyphics date about forty centuries ago, or six hundred years before the time of Moses, who is supposed to have been versed in the knowledge of the hieroglyphs. Yet nothing worthy of the name of an alphabet existed till a later period, when the Phœnicians invented a purely alphabetic system, but suppressing the vowels, and from this has originated all the modes of alphabetic writing now used.[12] The Greeks introduced the vowels into their graphic system, and so brought to perfection the invaluable invention of alphabetic writing.

The discovery of the Rosetta stone furnished a clue to the method of deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphics; and Dr. Young and Champollion were the first to make use of the suggestive opportunity. The words _Ptolemy_ and _Cleopatra_ were made out; and these served as a key or incentive to further investigations; and extensive and curious volumes have been devoted to the interpretation of Egypt’s mysterious inscriptions on monuments and writings on papyrus.

Among those who have investigated the Egyptian hieroglyphs, Mr. R. Lepsius is one of the most practical, for he has reduced the ancient characters to typographical uses for the behoof of the delvers into the earth’s earliest lore. He began the work soon after his return from a scientific expedition to Egypt during the years 1842-46, and his hieroglyphic types now completed number more than thirteen hundred. The Prussian government furnishing the needful pecuniary means, his first task was to ascertain the forms of hieroglyphic signs which would be most suitable for typographical purposes, and here the labour was immense. After laborious research, he reached the conclusion, that as European print had been formed, not from the monumental characters of the Greeks and Romans, but essentially from the current handwriting of documents on parchment and paper, so the hieroglyphic type should follow, not the chiseled or painted characters on the monuments, but the style of those written on papyrus. The style and proportions having been established, the punch-cutting was mostly executed by Mr. Ferdinand Theinhardt, the excellent Prussian type-founder, who for a series of years has been skilfully engaged in producing the matrices. We are indebted to Mr. Theinhardt for the specimens here given; the first of which is the hieroglyphic alphabet, and the second is the beginning of an ancient text found in a leather roll of the Royal Museum of Berlin, referring to the foundation of the temple of the Sun at On or Heliopolis in Egypt.

HIEROGLYPHIC ALPHABET.

2 _suten xāt m sexti, xeper ḥemes m tȧṭet, netńu re n ȧmu-xetef, semer nu_

3 _. . . ānx utȧ senb, seru r ȧst senentu, utu téṭet xeft setem set netńu re m_

4 _seun ḥer-sen. Mā-ten ḥen-a ḥer šau qat, sexa m sep m xut;_

5 _n-mxet ȧrí-ȧ mennu, semen-ȧ utu reṭu n ḥer xuti._]

TRANSLATION.

Done in the month of Hatoor of the third year of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Kheperkara Usertesen I.—the blessed and eternally living.

The King, wearing the double crown, sat in the royal hall. There was held a council of his attendants, the counsellors of the apartments of the Pharao (may he live!) and the great (chiefs) for the site of the foundation. Speeches were made, while they listened; and they deliberated, stepping forward. “Well!” said the King, “let me order the work and fittingly commemorate deeds of glory. Henceforth I will erect buildings and lasting steles to the double Horus,” that is to the god of the rising and setting Sun, etc.

RUNIC ALPHABETS.

Runes were the earliest alphabets in use among the Teutonic and Gothic nations of Northern Europe. The exact period of their origin is not known. The name is derived from the Teutonic _rûn_, a mystery; whence _runa_, a whisper, and _helrûn_, divination; and the original use of these characters seems to have been for purposes of secrecy and divination. Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon tradition agree in ascribing the invention of runic writing to Odin or Wodin. The countries in which traces of the use of runes exist include Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Germany, Britain, France, and Spain; and they are found engraved on rocks, crosses, monumental stones, coins, medals, rings, brooches, and the hilts and blades of swords. Runic letters were also often cut on smooth sticks called _rûn-stafas_, or mysterious staves, and used for purposes of divination. But there is no reason to believe that they were at any time in the familiar use in which we find the characters of a written language in modern times, nor have we any traces of their being used in books or on parchment. We have an explanation of the runic alphabet in various MSS. of the early middle ages, prior to the time when runes had altogether ceased to be understood.

The systems of runes in use among the different branches of the Teutonic stock were not identical, though they have a strong general family likeness, showing their community of origin. The letters are arranged in an order altogether distinct from that of any other alphabetical system, and have a purely Teutonic nomenclature. Each letter is, as in the Hebrew-Phœnician, derived from the name of some well-known familiar object, with whose initial letter it corresponds. Runes, being associated in the popular belief with augury and divination, were to a considerable extent discouraged by the early Christian priests and missionaries, whose efforts were directed to the supplanting of them by Greek and Roman characters. But it was not easy suddenly to put a stop to their use, and we find runes continuing to be employed in early Christian inscriptions. This was to a remarkable extent the case in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglia, where we have traces of runic writing of dates varying from the middle of the seventh to the middle of the tenth century. Runes are said to have been laid aside in Sweden by the year 1001, and in Spain they were officially condemned by the Council of Toledo in 1115.

The different systems of runes, all accordant up to a certain point, have been classed as the Anglo-Saxon, the German, and the Norse, each containing different subordinate varieties. The Norse alphabet is generally considered the oldest, and the parent of the rest. It has sixteen letters corresponding to our _f_, _u_, _th_, _o_, _r_, _k_, _h_, _n_, _i_, _a_, _s_, _t_, _b_, _l_, _m_, _y_, but has no equivalent for various sounds which exist in the language, in consequence of which the sound of _k_ was used for _g_, _d_ for _t_, _b_ for _p_, and _u_ and _y_ for _v_: _o_ was expressed by _au_, and _e_, by _ai_, _i_, or _ia_; and the same letter otherwise was made to serve for more than one sound. Other expedients came, in the course of time, to be employed to obviate the deficiency of the system,—as the addition of dots, and the adoption of new characters. But the runic system received a fuller development among the Germans and Anglo-Saxons, particularly the latter, whose alphabet was extended to no fewer than forty characters, in which seem to have been embraced, more nearly than in any modern alphabets, the actual sounds of a language. The table on the following page exhibits the best known forms of the Anglo-Saxon, German, and Norse runic alphabets, with the names and the power of the several letters.

The Anglo-Saxon runes, as here given, are derived from a variety of MS. authorities, the most complete containing forty characters, while some only extend as far as the twenty-fifth or twenty-eighth letter. Neither the name nor the power of some of the later letters is thoroughly known, and they are without any equivalents in the Norse runic system. The German runes are given from a MS. in the conventual library of St. Gall, in Switzerland. Though the various runic alphabets are not alike copious, the same order of succession among the letters is preserved, excepting that, in the Norse alphabet, _laugr_ precedes _madr_, although we have placed them otherwise, with the view of exhibiting the correspondence of the three systems. The number of characters in the Anglo-Saxon alphabet is a multiple of the sacred number eight; and we have the evidence both of a Swedish bracteate containing twenty-four characters, and of the above mentioned St. Gall MS., that there was a recognized division of the alphabet into classes of eight letters,—a classification which forms the basis of a system of secret runes, mentioned in that MS. Of these secret runes, there are several varieties specified: in particular, 1. _Iis-runa_ and _Lago-runa_ (of which specimens exist in Scandinavia), consisting of groups of repetitions of the character _iis_ or _lago_, some shorter and some longer, the number of shorter characters in each group denoting the class to which the letter intended to be indicated belonged; the number of longer ones, its position in the class. 2. _Hahal-runa_, where the letters are indicated by characters with branching stems, the branches to the left denoting the class, and those to the right the position in that class. There is an inscription in secret runes of this description at Hackness, in Yorkshire. 3. _Stof-runa_, in which the class is indicated by points placed above, and the position in the class by points below, or the reverse.

The best-known inscriptions in the Anglo-Saxon character are those on two grave-stones at Hartlepool, in Northumberland, on a cross at Bewcastle, in Cumberland, and on another cross at Ruthwell, in Dumfriesshire. The inscription on the west side of Bewcastle cross, which we give as a specimen of Anglo-Saxon runes, is a memorial of Alcfrid, son of Oswiu, who was associated with his father in the government of the kingdom of Northumbria, in the seventh century.

It has been thus deciphered into the Anglo-Saxon dialect of the period:—

+ THIS SIGBECUN
SETTÆ HWÆTRED
EM GÆRFÆ BOLDU
ÆFTÆR BARÆ
YMB CYNING ALCFRIDÆ
GICEGÆD HEOSUM SAWLUM.

Or, in Modern English:—

This memorial
Hwætred set
and carved this monument
after the prince
after the king Alcfrid
pray for their souls.

The inscription on the Ruthwell cross, after being long a puzzle to antiquaries, was first deciphered in 1838 by Mr. John M. Kemble, an eminent Anglo-Saxon scholar. It is written alternately down one side of the stone and up another, and contains a portion of a poem on the subject of the Crucifixion. Mr. Kemble’s interpretation received a very satisfactory confirmation by the discovery of a more complete copy of the same poem in a MS. volume of Anglo-Saxon homilies at Vercelli.

Mr. D. M. Haigh, whose researches have added much to our knowledge of Anglo-Saxon runes, has endeavoured to set up for them a claim of priority over the Norse characters. Instead of considering the additional Anglo-Saxon letters as a development of the Norse system, he looks on the Norse alphabet of sixteen letters as an abridgment of an earlier system, and finds occasional traces of the existence of the discarded characters in the earliest Norse inscriptions, and in the Scandinavian _Iis-runa_ and _Hahal-runa_, where the letters are classified in accordance with the Anglo-Saxon groups of eight.

The Scandinavian kingdoms contain numerous runic monuments, some of them written _boustrophedon_, or with the lines beginning alternately from the right and left; and there are many interesting inscriptions on Swedish gold bracteates. The Celtic races, from their connection with the Scandinavians, became acquainted with their alphabet, and made use of it in writing their own language; and hence we have, in the Western Islands of Scotland and in the Isle of Man, runic inscriptions, not in the Anglo-Saxon, but in the Norse character, with, however, a few peculiarities of their own. Some of the most perfect runic inscriptions are in Man; others of similar description exist at Holy Island, in Lamlash Bay, Arran; and there is an inscription in the same character on a remarkable brooch dug up at Hunterston, in Ayrshire. Dr. D. Wilson considers that the Celtic population of Scotland were as familiar with Norse as the Northumbrians with Saxon runes.

We sometimes find the Norse runes used to denote numerals, in which case the sixteen characters stand for the numbers from 1 to 16; _ar_ combined with _laugr_ stands for 17, double _madr_ for 18, and double _tyr_ for 19. Two more letters are used to express higher numbers, as _ur ur_, 20; _thurs thurs os_, 34.[13]

ANGLO-SAXON ALPHABET.

The Anglo-Saxon alphabet, and the forms and sounds of the letters, are shown in the following table:—

Two useful Anglo-Saxon letters have disappeared from modern English,—namely, Þ or þ th (_th_in), and Ð or ð th (_th_ine).

The Anglo-Saxon letters which vary from those now used were doubtless mere corruptions of the Roman forms,—viz. the capitals A, C, E, G, H, M, S, and W, and the small letters d, f, g, i, r, s, t, and w. Several marks of abbreviation were used by the Saxons, as ꝥ _that_, ⁊ _and_, &c. These were not original members of the alphabet, but were introduced probably for despatch.

About the year 1567, John Daye, who was patronized by Archbishop Parker, cut the first Saxon types which were used in England. In this year, _Asserius Menevensis_ was published by the direction of the archbishop in these characters; in the same year, Archbishop Ælfric’s _Paschal Homily_; and in 1571, the _Saxon Gospels_.

On the two following pages will be found a plan of cases for Saxon types.

GERMAN ALPHABET.

Outside of Germany, there is perhaps no country in which German printing is so extensively carried on as in the United States. We present a table of German characters, with their names, and their corresponding forms in English.

+---------------+-------------------+-----------------+
| German Form. | English Form. | German Name. |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------+
| | | |
| ~A~ ~a~ | A a | ah |
| | | |
| ~B~ ~b~ | B b | bay |
| | | |
| ~C~ ~c~ | C c | tsay |
| | | |
| ~D~ ~d~ | D d | day |
| | | |
| ~E~ ~e~ | E e | a |
| | | |
| ~F~ ~f~ ~ff~ | F f ff | ef, ef-ef |
| | | |
| ~G~ ~g~ | G g | gay |
| | | |
| ~H~ ~h~ ~ch~ | H h ch | hah, tsay-hah |
| | | |
| ~I~ ~i~ | I i | e |
| | | |
| ~J~ ~j~ | J j | yot |
| | | |
| ~K~ ~k~ ~ck~ | K k ck | kah, tsay-kah |
| | | |
| ~L~ ~l~ | L l | el |
| | | |
| ~M~ ~m~ | M m | em |
| | | |
| ~N~ ~n~ | N n | en |
| | | |
| ~O~ ~o~ | O o | o |
| | | |
| ~P~ ~p~ | P p | pay |
| | | |
| ~Q~ ~q~ | Q q | koo |
| | | |
| ~R~ ~r~ | R r | er |
| | | |
| ~S~ ~ſ~ ~s~ | S s s | es, |
| ~ſſ~ | ss | es-es |
| ~ſz~ ~ſt~| sz | es-tset, es-tay |
| | | |
| ~T~ ~t~ | T t | tay |
| | | |
| ~U~ ~u~ | U u | oo |
| | | |
| ~V~ ~v~ | V v | fōw |
| | | |
| ~W~ ~w~ | W w | vay |
| | | |
| ~X~ ~x~ | X x | iks |
| | | |
| ~Y~ ~y~ | Y y | ipsilon |
| | | |
| ~Z~ ~z~ ~tz~ | Z z tz | tset, tay-tset |
| | | |
| ~ä~ ~ë~ ~ü~ | ä ö ü _or_ æ œ ue | |
+---------------+-------------------+-----------------+

Several of the German letters, being somewhat similar in appearance, are liable to be mistaken one for another. To aid the learner, we give such letters together, and point out the difference.

~B~ (B) and ~V~ (V).

The latter is open in the middle, the former joined across.

~C~ (C) and ~E~ (E).

~E~ (E) has a little stroke in the middle, projecting to the right, which ~C~ (C) has not.

~G~ (G) and ~S~ (S).

~S~ (S) has an opening above, ~G~ (G) is closed, and has besides a perpendicular stroke within.

~K~ (K), ~N~ (N), ~R~ (R).

~K~ (K) is rounded at the top, ~N~ (N) is open in the middle, ~R~ (R) is united about the middle.

~M~ (M) and ~W~ (W).

~M~ (M) is opened at the bottom, ~W~ (W) is closed.

~b~ (b) and ~h~ (h).

~b~ (b) is entirely closed below, ~h~ (h) is somewhat open, and ends at the bottom, on one side, with a projecting hair-stroke.

~f~ (f) and ~ſ~ (s).

~f~ (f) has a horizontal line _through_ it, ~ſ~ (s) on the left side only.

~m~ (m) and ~w~ (w).

~m~ (m) is entirely open at the bottom, ~w~ (w) is partly closed.