PROPOSED SYSTEM. 



were purposely used. The idea is to make the system thoroughly 

 comprehensive. There might be such a number of machines 

 having identical initials that the letters would be almost arbitrary. 

 In practice, the designer can usually succeed in making the 

 symbols sufficiently suggestive. 



In considering how many letters to use in a symbol, consider- 

 ations of brevity advised two, suggestiveness three or four. Two 

 letters did not allow of enough permutations, nor indicate well 

 enough the kind and size of machine. Three seemed amply 

 sufficient in the first respect, as it provided over 17,000 symbols.. 

 If, for any reason, in the future four letters should seem desirable, 

 the addition of another would not materially change the system. 

 If three letters hyphened to a number of one, two or three digits 

 should seem bulky, remember that this symbol can stand by itself 

 anywhere and express positively the identity of the piece. Its 

 comparative brevity is shown by comparing the second and third 

 columns of the following table (A). In the different lines an idea 

 is given of the application of the system to a variety of products, 

 not usually made in any one shop. 



TABLE A. 



