24 EIGHT AND LEFT 



and other pigments for staining papyrus, parchment, or 

 paper. If the hand in this case moved from right to left it 

 would of course smear what it had already written ; and to 

 prevent such untidy smudging of the words, the order of 

 writing was reversed from left rightward. The use of wax 

 tablets also, no doubt, helped forward the revolution, for in 

 this case, too, the hand would cover and rub out the words 

 written. 



The strict dependence of writing, indeed, upon the 

 material employed is nowhere better shown than in the 

 case of the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions. The ordinary 

 substitute for cream-laid note in the Euphrates valley in its 

 palmy days was a clay or terra-cotta tablet, on which the 

 words to be recorded usually a deed of sale or something 

 of the sort were impressed while it was wet and then 

 baked in, solid. And the method of impressing them was 

 very simple ; the workman merely pressed the end of his 

 graver or wedge into the moist clay, thus giving rise to 

 triangular marks which were arranged in the shapes of 

 various letters. When alabaster, or any other hard material, 

 was substituted for clay, the sculptor imitated these natural 

 dabs or triangular imprints ; and that was the origin of 

 those mysterious and very learned-looking cuneiforms. 

 This, I admit, is a palpable digression ; but inasmuch as 

 it throws an indirect light on the simple reasons which 

 sometimes bring about great results, I hold it not wholly 

 alien to the present serious philosophical inquiry. 



Printing, in turn, necessarily follows the rule of writing, 

 so that in fact the order of letters and words on this page 

 depends ultimately upon the remote fact that primitive man 

 had to use his right hand to deliver a blow, and his left to 

 parry, or to guard his heart. 



Some curious and hardly noticeable results flow once 

 more from this order of writing from left to right. You 



