358 EEPORT— 1891. 



carrying an olive-branch and having a star on its head," with 

 an alternative, " an olive-branch, a flag of truce, and a star." 

 And these clumsy and inai'tistic conceptions had to be typo- 

 graphically represented in a space the tv^'elfth of an inch 

 square. When more than one symbol is used for the same 

 idea, the object of symbolic writing is frustrated (as it is in 

 alphabetic writing, only we are accustomed to the anomaly). 

 For example, there are three astronomical signs for the earth 

 — a circle surmounted by a small cross, J , a cross within a 

 circle, ® , and a horizontal line within a circle, © . 



An interesting aspect of the question is the interchange 

 between literal and arbitrary signs. The physician's I^, sup- 

 posed to signify Eecipe, is, as is well known, a corrupted form 

 of the symbol of Jupiter, the benignant planet, whose good 

 offices were thereby invoked. On the other hand, the radical 

 symbol ^' , apparently arbitrary, is a cursive modification of the 

 initial of Eadix. Tliese are typical instances out of many 

 others. 



Akin to this is the actual derivation of words from graphic 

 symbols — a process still in operation, and of which some 

 notable instances occur in literature. The Italian proverb, 

 " Eound as the of Giotto," is a case in point, the reference 

 being to an inscribed circle having no literal significance 

 whatever. So in Kimj Henry V., Shakspeare writes, — 



— or may we cram 



Within this wooden the very casques 

 That did affright tlie air at Agincourt. 



Sometimes written " oe " by old writers. "Em" and "en" 

 are recognised terms of measurement in printing, represent- 

 ing the space supposed to be occupied respectively by 

 a capital M and small n. The D of a saddle, the T of a 

 wharf (sometimes superfluously written "tee"), a T-hinge, 

 and a T-square are all instances of this kind of word-formation, 

 of which we have a typical and early instance in the geo- 

 graphical term Delta. L and Y come into the same category 

 in the compounds L-shaped and Y-shaped. The " comma 

 bacillus " of Koch is a recent instance in point. The symbol 

 and the thing signified, the symbol and the form of the 

 symbol, become confounded, aiid, ideas having first been ex- 

 pressed in arbitrary forms, the forms themselves react both 

 upon ideas and language. 



I have said enough to show the important place occupied by 

 arbitrary signs. In some cases, as in the signs of equality, =,. 

 and parallelism, || , they possess remarkable fitness and beauty. 

 As regards precision and accuracy, so far as the English lan- 

 guage is concerned they have the advantage over the phonetic 

 signs, besides being in most cases internationally used. I am 



