108 On the Origin of 
point out his path to the desired end of this 
intricate investigation. in 
When those who first conceived the idea of 
expressing their thoughts by means of visible 
signs had determined, (as we have supposed 
would probably be the case) in favour of the 
method of connecting such signs immediately 
with the words by which these thoughts were 
already expressed in language, it is not atall 
improbable that their first plan would be to in- 
vent a separate mark for each individual word. 
In an age like the present, and with a lan- 
guage like ours containing fifty or sixty thou- 
sand words, this would of course be an end- 
less undertaking ; and would scarcely answer 
the purpose were it completed; but in an early 
and simple age, when languages were not so 
copious, the task might seem less arduous. 
Perceiving the inconvenience which would 
arise, if they left the allotment of these cha- 
racters to the suggestions of arbitrary fancy, 
they would of course endeavour to devise 
some regular plan according to which certain 
varieties in the characters might be made to 
correspond with analogous’ varieties in the 
words which they were employed to repre- 
sent. This regular plan might proceed either 
upon certain supposed resemblances in the 
ideas which the words conveyed, or upon’ a 
