HYGIENIC REQUIREMENTS IN PRINTING 545 



eye-work in using the shorter lines. Indeed, I found that readers 

 could read matter printed in lines of 25 millimeters in one downward 

 sweep without any lateral movement of the eyes. With lines 30 

 millimeters long, the lateral movement was sometimes almost nil, and 

 seemed to be due mainly to habit. In reading such lines in this 

 way the eye's extent of movement is hardly more than one fourth 

 or one fifth the amount needed for the same matter when printed in 

 long lines. 



When the shorter lines, generally, more words were read per fixation 

 than with the longer ones. A magazine column having lines 60.5 

 millimeters long was in one case read at the rate of 3.63 words per 

 fixation, while columns having lines 98 to 121 millimeters long required 

 a fixation for every two words. Lines of a length approximating 60 

 millimeters are usual in newspapers and in my experiments were read 

 with a minimum of eye-movement. The makers of the modern news- 

 paper have felt the reaction of readers more, perhaps, than have the 

 makers of books. Out of this experience has evolved the present prac- 

 tise of printing newspapers in narrow columns, the line-lengths of 

 which are perhaps as near the optimum as can be determined at present, 

 when we consider that much shorter lines give great inconvenience to 

 the printer. 



For books, also, the newspaper line-length is near an optimum so far 

 as ease and speed of reading are the conditions to be considered. In 

 the case of large books where the question becomes one of printing in 

 one or in two columns per page the latter alternative should un- 

 doubtedly be chosen. For books of ordinary sizes a somewhat longer 

 line may be used where this will contribute to convenience or beauty; 

 but a book should not be used whose lines are more than 90 millimeters 

 in length, and somewhat shorter lines are generally to be preferred. 



One of the great advantages of the shorter lines is that they con- 

 stantly permit the reader to see in indirect vision what his eye has 

 just passed as well as what is just coming. Though the words of this 

 related matter may not be clearly perceived, they furnish visual clues 

 which keep the reading range further extended at each moment, a 

 most desirable condition for all reading and especially for fast reading 

 or for skimming. With such lines a hurried reader may glance 

 straight down a page with only an occasional short stop, and may yet 

 be sure that he has gathered the gist of everything. 



Dr. Dearborn, in experiments made recently at Columbia Univer- 

 sity, found that the eye makes its longest pause near the beginning of 

 the line, thus permitting a general preliminary survey of the line. 

 A secondary pause of more than average duration is made near the 

 end of the line, perhaps partially in review. He finds that lines of 

 only moderate length facilitate these general surveys better than the 



VOL. LXX. — 35. 



