PHONOGRAPHY. 279 



A system whose scientific basis is siicli as has been indicated, and 

 capable of being written with the ra])idity previously without a par- 

 allel, approves itself to the judgment without argument, as deserving 

 a place in any loell ordered plan of education. As a means of devel- 

 oping distinctness and accuracy of pronunciation, and a clear knowl- 

 edge of its nice shades and varieties, nothing can be more useful tlian 

 the study and practice of phonographic writing and reading ; since 

 from the very necessity of writing the sound of the words, our atten- 

 tion is constantly directed towards differences of pronunciation and 

 the ascertainment of that which is correct. Indirectly, therefore, and 

 more thoroughly, it teaches all which is included in the st'jdy of 

 orthoepy ; and if it were only useful in this particular, it would be 

 well worthy of attention. But when we consider, further, its advan- 

 tages as a system of short hand, there appear few studies, if we except 

 the very elements of learning, more likely to prove useful, both in 

 the process of acquisition and in the attainment. 



The system of long hand writing is far from answering all the re- 

 quirements of our present state of social and mental advancement. It 

 is not a fancied, but a real want, which, phonography meets, whenit 

 furnishes a method which makes the representation of words by writ- 

 ten characters as facile and easy as is their expression in speech ; 

 which combines, in short, the legibility and distinctness of long hand 

 with the brevity and facility of short hand. 



Such a system enables students at schools and colleges to secure a 

 verbatim record of the valuable information presented in their course 

 of instruction, and which the unassisted memory is wholly unable to 

 retain. The importance of such information for present use, and as a 

 treasury for future reference, cannot well be over estimated. Nor does 

 the utility of a knowledge of phonography by any means_ cease when, 

 after completing the studies of youth, we enter on the business of life. 

 The lawyer, the physician, the clergyman, the author, the scholar, 

 and the merchant, versed in the art, will find abundant opportunities 

 to apply it to practical advantage, as a labor-saving instrument in sub- 

 stitution for the cumbrous long hand. 



We have already an abundant store of facts proving the practical 

 value of phonography. 'Apart from its use for reporters' purposes, it 

 is employed among many thousands of persons in this country and 

 Great Britain in interchanging correspondence ; by preachers in pre- 

 paring for the pulpit ; and by authors in writing for the i)ress ; in 

 which case the printers are taught to set up from phonographic man- 

 • uscript. Several periodicals are published in lithographed phonog- 

 raphy, and find patrons who read them with the facility of ordinary 

 manuscript. But the most striking examples of the value of the sys- 

 tem are found among those who adopt it for the purpose of pro- 

 fessional reporting. Lads, many years short of manhood, who have 

 had the advantage of acquiring this art, find it the means, not merely 

 of support, but of lucrative remuneration, by becoming amanuenses, 

 or reporters of judicial or legislative proceedings, some of them having 

 been selected for the responsible position of reporters for the Congress 

 of the United States. 



The usefulness of the system would be more apparent, were it fairly 

 introduced into our schools as part of an elementary system of educ£- 



