342 P^^gi'ophj ! oryXIniverfal Writing. 



manipulations of great delicacy ; but which alfo leads u} to confukr the confequences of 

 the affinities in faline mixtures under a new point of view, in order to difcover the caufe of 

 a refult fo little agreeing with all the obfervations which have yef been made upon their 

 compofition*. 



IV. 



On Pafigraphy\ or, the Art of Writing nvhich Jball be intelligihk to all Nat ions f. 



V>*ITIZEN Memieux has promlfed to affift us with a pafigraphy, or univerfal writing, 

 by means of twelve characters which may be learned in twelve hours. This extreme fim- 

 plicity is entitled to the utmoft attention of philofophers, and feems to indicate a very fuperiof 

 mind in the author. We mud neverthelcfs enquire, what may be the nature of tliefe cha- 

 racters ; for their form is of no great confequcnce. Are they alphabetical ? Or, are they 

 a kind of hieroglyphic, each exprefling an idea, like the charafters of the Chinefe writing ? 



If the queftion relate to an alphabet, the fecret is certainly not uncommon ; bu:, if the 

 characters be hieroglyphical, It will be difficult to comprehend how twelve primitive ideas 

 and their reprefentative figns can be fufficient for every combination. In either cafe, there 

 is a new language to be learned, which, it is expefled, the various nations will adopt. A 

 Portuguefe receives the information that a certain character, a crofs for example, is to be 

 made ufe of to denote a fhip; the fame information is communicated to an Indian; and, 

 when thefe two men meet, If they trace a crofs upon their tablets, they will both compre- 

 hend that a fliip is meant, — and fo of the reft. Without proceeding fo far from the ordinary 

 practice, I might fay both to the Portuguefe and the Indian, Write the word navls,and you 

 will equally underftand each other ; or, in fliort, I might command all the people on the 

 face of the earth to learn Latin, or any other common language, and then acquaint them, 

 that this qualification would enable them to underftand each other. 



In this manner it is, that all the nations who have adopted the Arabian cyphers caa 

 readily communicate all their ideas of numbers and their combinations, notwithftanding the 

 difference of their languages. When a native of France fees a German write 234, both 

 have a perception of the fame objedt, and underftand each other perfeftly, though the one 

 in oral fpeech would ^z.^ dei4x cents trente quatre, and the other ztu^ hundert vier und dreiftg. 

 Let the German continue to write numbers, and to perform the moft complicated opera- 

 tions, the Frenchman will follow and comprehend them without difficulty. The algebra- 

 ifts of all nations underftand at firft fight the procefles written by nations pofleffing other 

 idioms. The fame thing happens with regard to the figns of pharmacy, the ancient chemiftry, 

 aftronomy, and mufic. Let a number of Italians,Englifli, French, and Germans,bc colle£ted 



* At the end of this paper, the author does juftice, in a notei to M. Richter, who, in his Neuern Gcgen- 

 ftande dcr Chymie, &c. makes the fame obfervation, to which he was led by the great difference between the 

 proportions indicated in the tables already known, and thofe he had determined by a new method, which he calls 

 ftachiometrique. I hope to proc\ire this work foon. N. 



t From the Sptftateur du Nord, Mai 1798. The fignature V*'* **•* is annexed to this paper. I have 

 omitted the two firft paragraphs, which form no eflential part of the fubjeft, and are written in a ftyle of levity 

 which can fcarcely accord with the reft of this excellent paper. — Reference to two Memoirs on the fame 

 fubjeft, with a few remarks, is made in our Journal, 11. 189—191. N, 



together 



