Development of Form tji Literature. 



21 



pared I suggested an examination into the decrease of predi- 

 cation and sentence-weight since Chaucer. The investigation, 

 faithfully and even enthusiastically carried through, embraced 

 the principal authors in the prose side of our literature, as 

 also many of the poets, and a number of prominent names 

 outside of English. The averages from the several authors 

 were consistent, and taken as a whole unequivocally estab- 

 lished the fact of a systematic decrease of sentential complex- 

 ity and weight, towards the oral norm. The thesis, with some 

 subsequent extension, will be published as the second paper 

 in the present series on the development of literary form, 

 but the following extracts will show the general character 

 of the results obtained. The exhibit includes per cent of 

 predications, per cent of simple sentences, and per cent of 

 predications avoided through use of present participles, past 

 participles, and appositives. The authors are arranged 

 according to per cent of predications. 



357 



