SELF-INSTRUCTOR IN SHORT-HAND WRITING. tracted, irregular, or exceptional word-formsand the more brief and complicated styles for the reporter's use. Of the various systems of Short-hand, that called Tachygraphy (Ta-kig-ra-fe), a system invented and elaborated by D. P. Lindsley, of Andover, Mass., probably more nearly meets the requirements of the public than any now in use; the advantage of this system of Shorthand being, that it combines rapidity with completeness of detail in a very large degree. By permission of Mr. Lindsley we are enabled to present the following synopsis and illustrations from his work, "Elements of Tachygraphy," published by Otis Clapp, No. 3 Beacon St., Boston. 45 In writing Tachygraphy the pen should be held between the first and second fingers, and steadied by the thumb-as shown in the cut at the beginning of this chapter-so that such signs as -may be easily made, without changing the position of the pen. The alphabet should be thoroughly mastered by taking up the signs in pairs, and writing them many times, repeating the sound represented as the sign is made, so as to get the sound allied with the sign, and both well fixed in the mind. It will be noticed that all heavy signs represent vocal sounds, while nearly all the light signs represent whispered sounds. The signs, || \\ ) ) ( ( always written downward; are -, from left to right; ward, and In joining consonant signs with each other, acute angles should be made where possible, as they are more easily and rapidly made than obtuse angles. The joining of a vowel sign with a consonant, at its beginning, should always form an angle, thus: 13 2 /, either upward or down, always upward. Abe, eke, it, of, owes, on, oil, are. At the end of a consonant, the semi-circular vowels are written, either in their alphabetic form or as hooks on the consonant, whichever is most convenient and adds most to facility in writing. The vowels (distinguished mainly by size), are determined by their being written in the direction the hands of a clock i in it; y in duty. move-turning far enough to the right to form a proper angle with the following sign; and ě, e in ebb. a in ask, at. (also distinguished mainly by size), are determined by their being written in the opposite direction. Examples: Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by D. P. LINDSLEY in the Clerk's Office Be, kid, keen, deep, tick, fish, leap, hid, bad, of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. car, tan, narrow, last. Seek always to form a free, flowing, graceful outline. The most easily written forms are the most beautiful, and vice versa. We have given, of this system, only a synopsis of the fully written Common Style, but sufficient, however, to explain the merits and principles of Tachygraphy. Those who wish to fit themselves for verbatim writing are referred to the work entitled, "The Note Taker. A Treatise on the Second Style of Lindsley's Brief Writing, for the use of Lawyers, Editors, Reporters, Students, and all persons desirous of taking full notes in Courts of Record, Professional Schools, Seminaries, and Public Assemblies." Published by the firm to which we have before alluded. The following Extracts are from Pope's 47 اله 21 ~ 3 RULES FOR SPELLING. SPELLING. EAUTIFUL penmanship should be accompanied by correct spelling. If the person can possess but one accomplishment, it is, in fact, better to spell correctly than to write well. Nothing so mars the effect of beautiful chirography as bad spelling, which is the more conspicuous when set off by good penmanship. True, there are over a hundred thousand words in the English language, and we cannot reasonably be expected to remember the correct orthography of them all; and hot until the phonetic system is received, by which every word is represented by a recognized sign, can we spell all words correctly without reference to the dictionary; but the few hundred words in general use are not so difficult to master. At any rate, the writer should have at hand a reliable dictionary, and no word should go from his hand without being correctly spelled. The following will aid students somewhat in their knowledge of spelling: Names of Elementary Sounds, An elementary sound is the simplest sound of the English language, as a, e, b, k. The English language contains about forty elementary sounds. These sounds are divided into three classes— vocals, sub-vocals, and aspirates. The vocals consist of a pure tone only, as a, e, i, o, u. The sub-vocals consist of tone united with breath; as b, d, 1, m, n, r. The aspirates consist of pure breath only; as p, t, k, f. The following words contain the different elementary sounds of the language: VOCALS.-N-a-me, b-a-ll, a-t, m-e, m-e-t, f-i-ne, p-i-n, s-o-ld, m-o-ve, n-o-t, m-u-te, p-u-ll, c-u-p, f-ou-nd. SUB-VOCALS.- B-at, d-og, g-o, j-oy, life, m-an, n-o, so-ng, ba-r, th-ose, v-oice, w-ise, y-es, z-one, a-z-ure. ASPIRATES.F-aith, h-at, ar-k, p-ine, s-un, t-ake, th-ink, sh-one, ch-ur-ch, wh-en. Letters. A letter is a character used to represent an elementary sound. The English Alphabet contains twenty-six letters: A, a; B, b; C, c; D, d; E, e; F, f; G, g; H, h; I, i; J, j; K, k; L, 1; M, m; N, n; 0, o; P, p; Q, q; R, S, s; T, t; U, u; V, v; W, w; X, x ; Y, y ; Z, z. As will be seen, there are more elementary sounds than letters. It therefore follows that some letters must represent more than one sound each. Those letters which represent vocals are called vowels. They are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y. Those letters which represent sub-vocals and aspirates are called consonants. The sub-vocals and consonants are b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v, 2. The aspirates and consonants are ƒ, h, k, c, q, p, t, 8. Rules for Spelling. 1. Words of one syllable ending in F, L, or s, preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant; as STAFF, MILL, PASS; except 1, OF, AS, GAS, HAS, WAS, YES, IS, HIS, THIS, US, THUS. 2. Words ending in any other consonant except F, L, and s, do not double the final letter; except ADD, ODD, EGG, EBB, INN, ERR, PURE, BUTT, BUZZ, and some proper names. 3. Words of one syllable, and words accented on the last syllable, when they end with a single consonant, preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant before an additional syllable beginning with a vowel; as ROB, ROBBER; PERMIT, PERMITTING; but x final, being equivalent to KS, is an exception, and is never doubled. 4. A final consonant, when not preceded by a single vowel, or when the accent is not on the last syllable, should remain single before an additional syllable; as TOIL, TOILING; VISIT, VISITED. L and s are often doubled, in violation of this rule, when the accent is not on the last syllable: as TRAVEL, TRAVELLER; BIAS, BIASSED. It is better to write TRAVELER and BIASED. 5. Primitive words ending in LL reject one L before LESS and LY; as SKILL, SKILLESS; FULL, FULLY: but words ending in any other double letter, preserve it double before these terminations; as FREE, FREELY; ODD, ODDLY. 6. The final E of a primitive word is generally omitted before an additional termination beginning with a vowel; as RATE, RATABLE; FORCE, FORCIBLE; but words ending in CE and GE retain the E before ABLE and OUS; as PEACE, PEACEABLE; OUTRAGE, OUTRAGEOUS. 7. The final E of a primitive word is generally retained before an additional termination beginning with a consonant; as PALE, PALENESS; but when the E is preceded by a vowel it is sometimes omitted; as TRUE, TRULY: and sometimes retained; as SHOE, SHOELESS. CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS IN SPELLING. 8. The final y of a primitive word, when preceded by a consonant, is changed into 1 before an additional termination; as MERRY, MERRILY: but with a vowel before, the Y is not changed; as VALLEY, VALLEYS, and not VALLIES, as frequently written; and before ING the Y is retained to prevent the doubling of the 1; as PITY, PITYING. 9. Compounds generally retain the orthography of the simple words of which they are composed; as ALL-WISE, BLUE-EYED, 10. Words ending in F or FE have v substituted for the F in forming the plurals: as WIFE, WIVES; KMFE, KNIVES, etc., except when ending in FF. 11. Some words are spelt the same in both the singular and plural; 18 DEER, SHEEP, etc., in which instance, by placing a before the word, one is meant, and by using THE, more than one. 12. Some words are spelt altogether differently in the singular and plural; as MOUSE, MICE; GOOSE, GEESE. 13. In spelling words it is necessary to consider well the different sounds of each part of the word. Every separate sound in a word must have in it one of the following letters, A, E, I, o, or u. Take for instance, CONTEMPLATE, which consists of three different sounds, CON-TEM-PLATE; there are the letters o, E, and A, respectively, in each sound or syllable, as it is called, and each one gives the sound to its syllable. In dividing such words at the end of a line. you must not let the last letter be any one of the above-mentioned five vowels, but must divide according to the syllable. Another rule to be observed in the spelling of words which have ING added to them, when such words end in E, the E must always be left out; as COME, COMING; DIVIDE, DIVIDING. It is also found difficult when the letters I and E come together in a word, to know which is to be placed first. The following simple rule will obviate such difficulty: When I and E follow c in a word, the E is usually placed first; as RECEIVE, DECEIVE, CONCEIVE, etc.; in other instances the I comes before the E; as BELIEVE, RELIEVE, etc. Words of Similar Pronunciation that are Speiled Differently. Ail, Ale. Ail, unwell; Ale, a liquor. All, Awl. All, everyone; Awl, shoemaker's tool. Bier, Beer. Bier, frame for carrying corpse; Beer, a malt liquor. swine. Birth, Berth. Birth, to be born; Berth, sleeping place. Currant, Current. Currant, a fruit; Current, a stream. Dear, Deer. Dear, not cheap, term of affection; Deer, an animal. Fourth, Forth. Fourth, next after third; Forth, forward. None, Nun. None, not any; Nun, a female who secludes herself from all worldly affairs. Piece, Peace. Piece, a bit; Peace, quietness. Red, Read. Red, a color; Read, past tense of read. Write, Wright, Rite, Right. Write, to use a pen; Wright, a man's name; Rite, a ceremony; Right, not wrong. Wrote, Rote. Wrote, having written; Rote, to repeat from Corruptible, Credible, Deceptible, Decerptible, Conclusible, Congestible, |