TOL. XLV.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 517 



1st. If o, e, i, 0, and the aspirate h, be suppressed, there will be ig letters 

 only remaining to be represented by 8 marks. 2d. If c, s, x, z, which have a 

 sound much alike, be represented by one character, there will remain 15 letters 

 to be represented by the other 7 marks. — 3d. If c, g, k, g, which have a sound 

 not very difterent, be represented by one character, there will remain 12 letters 

 to be represented by 6 marks. — 4th. If b, p, f, be represented by one mark, 

 there will remain Q letters to be represented by 5 marks. — 5th. If d, < be repre- 

 sented by one mark, only 7 letters remain to be represented by 4 marks. — 6th. 

 If /, r be represented by one mark, only 5 letters remain to be represented by 3 

 marks. — 7th. If m, n be represented by one mark, only 3 letters remain to be 

 represented by 2 marks, — 8th. If u, iv be represented by one mark, there will 

 remain one mark to represent y, the only letter unmentioned. 



Writing with suppression of the vowels has been always admitted into short- 

 hands of all sorts, because the consonants are considered as radical letters, which 

 indeed they ought to be. He suppresses h, as being not radical. 



All short-hands are subject to ambiguity; for there being but 8 marks to repre- 

 sent 24 letters; and those 8 being used for 8 of them in the short-hand alphabets, 

 the other letters nmst be described by characters compounded of these 8. The 

 ranging of the letters into classes, as is done here, will hardly introduce a greater 

 ambiguity than all short-hands are subject to. So that this method cannot be 

 reckoned more puzzling to a reader than any of the rest. 



1st. The repetitions of d being 45, and of / QS, amount to 140, for the repe- 

 titions of this class. — 2d. The repetitions__of / being 36, and r 50, amount to 86, 

 for the repetitions of this class. — 3d. The repetitions of m being 15, and n QQ, 

 amount to 86, for the repetitions of the third class. — 4th. The repetitions of u 

 being 50, and of w lb, give 75, for the repetitions of the fourth class. — 5th. The 

 repetitions of c, when of the nature of s, being about half its number in the 

 table, may be reckoned 10, those of * 6l, those of xO, and those of z l, give 

 72, for the repetitions of the fifth. — 6th. The repetitions of b being 20,' off 

 18, and of p 12, give 50, for the repetitions of the sixth class. — 7th. The repe- 

 titions of c before a, o, u, being about 13, of o- 18, of ^ 3, and of q O, give 

 34, for the repetitions of the seventh class. — 8th. The repetitions of 3^ being 23, 

 gives 23 for the repetitions of the eighth class. 



By a little reflection it will apjx;ar, that the marks applicable to these classes 

 are in some measure determined. For a right line taking up less time than a 

 crooked line in its description, it is plain the first 4 classes must be referred to 

 the 4 right lines; and the 4 circular parts to the remaining last 4 classes. But 

 the right lines are indifferent to all the first 4 classes, and the circular parts to 

 the last 4 classes, for the reason just mentioned. So that so much as relates to 

 the fixing the particular right line to represent the particular class, is at the liberty 



