^HOUt-HAND. 
Junction ; as, , King, Lord, and 
Commons; righteously, and 
godly, &c. 
8. Express Ion? words by their first syl- 
lal)Ies, with as many points annexed as 
tiiere are syllables wantin?. In very com- 
mon words the points may be occasionally 
omitted. 
9. Express Ion? words by their preposi- 
tions, together with their next vowel or 
consonant only. 
10. Words may be denoted by their first 
vowel and consonant, with their termina- 
tions added ; as, , arbitrary; , op- 
portunity, &c. 
11. Words easily discovered by their con- 
nection, may be expressed by their first 
vowel and consonant, or by their preposi- 
tions otily ; and as few English words end 
with tiie syllable to, the preposition to may 
be joined to the preceding word ; as, ^ j 
belongs to ; I' , satisfactory to, &c. 
12. Join the pronouns to prepositions ; 
as, 1^, tome; L- ^ to vs; I-, to you, &c. 
always adding the vowel point, when the 
words, would otherwise be liable to be mis- 
taken. 
13. Join the preceding word, the prepo- 
sition, and pronoun all together ; as, , 
belongs to me ; , agreed with me, &c. 
14. Join adverbs, verbs, prepositions, 
pronominal adjectives, and substantives 
all together ; as, '""VHi , sefely depend upon 
my word, &c. 
1.9. Many common phrases, formed by a 
substantive, preceded by the prepositions 
with, without, in, &c. and followed by to, of, 
&c. may be abbreviated; as, , with 
regard to ; in consequence of, &c. 
These several words are expressed by 
their first consonants only, joined together, 
the vowel o being added in the first exam- 
ple to denote the preposition to. 
16. In like manner, denote common ad- 
verbial phrases by the initial consonants 
joined together ; as, , in lihe manner-, 
, in particular ; ^ in a great mea- 
sure, &c. 
17. Numerous contractions may be made 
when it is, or if was, are foUdvved by an 
adjective, and to, or that ; as, , it is 
impossible to ; if is not to be sup- 
posed that,. &c. 
The above abbreviating rules, though few 
in number, are very extensive in their appli- 
cation. An assiduous attention to the na- 
ture and idiom of our language may suggest 
others as useful and extensive as these. 
Proper care being taken to lay a right foun- 
dation, the legitimate ways of contracting 
will increase in proportion to the ^uiter’s 
want of them. It must be obvious to every 
one how much a systematic plan of abbre- 
viation, like this, is superior to that which 
consists of a multitude of arbitrary marks 
to signify particular words and phrases ; a 
plan which not only disfigures the writing, 
but renders it nearly, if not entirely, illegible 
even to the writer himself, unless it is tran- 
scribed into long hand while tlie subject is 
fresh in his memory. The experience of 
the late ingenious Dr. Darwin will serve to 
illustrate the futility of these systems* 
“ The book I learned short hand from,” 
says this elegant writer, “ was published by 
Gurney, and said to be an improvement on 
Ma^on ; other treatises of short-hand I have 
also examined, and found them all of nearly 
equal excellence. I can only add, -that 
many volumes I wTote from medical lec- 
tures I now find difficult to decipher.” Had 
Dr. Darwin practised the system of Mr. 
Byrom, we can assert, both from our own 
experience, and the experience of many 
others, that he would have found no serious 
difficulty in deciphering his medical lec- 
tures at any period of time after they were 
written. For, as the present indefatigable 
Dr. Mavor observes, in the introduction to 
his own treatise On stenography, “ it must 
be owned that it is above the reach of hu- 
man ingenuity to exceed his (Mr. Byrom’s) 
general plan, which must for ever be the 
basis of every future rational system.” 
s 
The first Part of the Specimens without Con- 
tractions, spelt according to the Method 
used in writing Short-hand. (See Plates 
Short-hand.) 
THE BEAR. A FABLE. 
A bear, wo ws bred in the savg desrts 
of Sibria, had an inklnation to see the wrld. 
He travld frm forst to forst, and frm on 
kngdm to anthr, making miii prfud obsrva- 
tions in hs wa. Among the rst of hs ex- 
-krsns, he km bi aksdnt into a farmr’s yard, 
1 / 
