184 BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 



tell, and Sanford have each suggested changes for improving the form 

 of some of the worst letters. Among the most important of these are 

 Javal's suggestion that letters be made broader, and that we return to 

 the more open forms of c, e, and o, and Sanford's suggestion that a let- 

 ter in shape of an inverted v or of a small cap a might be substituted 

 for our present small a. 



"4. The Approach. The distance between letters and words, or the 

 approach, is important. Every letter stands out with especial distinct- 

 ness when the space between two letters is wider than the space be- 

 tween the ground strokes of the letter. For this reason words are em- 

 phasized in German by spacing the type. This greater approach adds 

 to legibility. School-books should have an approach of nearly 1 mm. 



"5. 'Leading' Is Important. 'A book has good interlineage,' according 

 to Dr. Cohn, 'when, if the letters are 1.5 mm. high, the lines are 3 mm. 

 apart.' A distance of 2.5 mm. (1-10 of an inch) is the smallest admis- 

 sible. Many of the old books had wider interlineage than is usual at 

 present. 



"6. The Length of the Lines. The shorter the line the more easily 

 can one read. Javal thinks the long lines the cause of progressive 

 myopia in Germany. According to Dr. Cohn, the greatest length of lino 

 should be only 10 cm. Weber would have lines from 14 to 15 cm. in 

 length. 



"Dr. Cohn resumes his rules as follows: 'In the future I would have 

 all school authorities, with measuring rule in hand, place upon the 

 Index librorum prohibitorum all school-books which do not conform to 

 the following measurements: The height of the smallest "n" must be at 

 least 1.5 mm. (.06 inches), the least width between the lines must be 2.5 

 mm. (.1 inches), the least thickness of the "n" must be .25 mm. (.01 

 inches), the shortest distance between the letters .75 mm. (.03 inches), 

 the greatest length of text-line 100 mm. (4 inches), and the number of 

 letters on a line must not exceed 60.' " 



It is of course difficult for a student to alter the type of his 

 text or reference books, and attention is directed to the matter 

 here chiefly in the hope that those who have the choosing of such 

 books may take this energeic question into consideration. It is 

 of especial significance perhaps to students in the languages who 

 have occasion to consult dictionaries freely. 



Attention has been directed thus far to the waste entailed by 

 needless tensions resulting from a worry ful mind, from the use 

 of implements requiring unnecessary co-ordinations, from de- 



