98 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



which certain letters assume on their tops, which cause them 

 to appear Hke small branches. The following letters only 

 can assume coronal apices : 'if tzaddi, :i gimel, t zain, 3 nun, 

 i3 teth, i> ayin, iy schin. These, with the coronal apices, often 

 appear in manuscripts." 



It will be seen that the word K-epam. "tittle," according to 

 Clarke's second and most probable suggestion, closely corre- 

 sponds in meaning with "serif"; and, moreover, he uses 

 " seraph " almost as if it were a Hebrew word, which it 

 gi-eatly resembles in structiare. Dr. Clarke's knowledge of ■ 

 Hebrew and other Semitic tongues was extensive and minute, 

 and he uses the word so ambiguously in the passage I have 

 quoted that I am not now certain w^hether he got the word 

 "seraph" from Hebrew or Arabic, or from his printer. 

 Eabbi Van Staveren, who has kindly assisted me in this 

 matter, knows of no such word; the one he gives me as 

 corresponding most nearly to the English " serif " is fb''D 

 cilook. It is used to describe the slight projection distin- 

 guishing (for example) 1 daleth from 1 resh. 



But, though the word means much the same, the import- 

 ance of the thing signified is vastly different in the two 

 alphabets. The serif in the Eoman letter is little more 

 than a superfluous ornament, like the "coronal apices" in 

 Hebrew to which Clarke refers, and to which the scribes 

 attached peculiar and mystical meanings. In monumental 

 inscriptions it is dispensed with for the sake of simplicity. 

 An I without serifs is represented by one line, |^ by three ; 

 with serifs three and seven lines respectively are required to 

 complete the character. Where special legibility is sought, 

 sign-painters and printers alike use letters without serifs. 

 Far otherwise was it in Hebrew. Neglect of these minute 

 details by a scribe might most grievously corrupt the text. 

 Hence such sayings as these by the Eabbins : " Should any 

 one, in Ps., cL, 6, change n into n he would ruin the world " ; 

 " Should any one, in Exodus, xxxiv., 14, change 1 into 1 he 

 would ruin the world." In the one case the verb " praise," 

 in the passage " Let everything that hath breath praise the 

 Lord," would be turned into " profane "; in the other, " Thou 

 shalt worship no other God " would become " Thou shalt not 

 worship the only God." Examples like these, which could 

 be multiplied, show the force of the passage that not one 

 " tittle " of the law should be altered. 



I think (always supposing that no Hebrew original can be 

 found) that the Greek word rendered "tittle," Kepaia, gives 

 the key to the original idea. Kcpaia signifies " a little 

 horn." The resemblance of these projecting points to horns 

 is quite sufficient to warrant this fanciful use of the word, 

 which, probably, was not confined to the Greek. And though 



