CHARACTERS. 
O or N. noon. 
P. M. post meridiem, When the sun is past 
the meridian. 
Characters used in the arithmetic of 
intiiiites. 
. the character of an infinitesimal or 
fluxion ; thus, x, y, 6fC. express the fluxions 
or differentials of tlie variable x and j/; and 
two, three, or more dots denote second, 
third, or higher fluxions. M. Leibnitz, in- 
stead of a dot, prefixes the letter d to the 
variable quantity, in order to avoid the con- 
fusion of dots in the differencing of differen- 
tials. See Calculus Differentialis. 
alike 
fb a pound or a pint 
^ an ounce 
3 a drachm 
3 a scruple 
gr. grains 
P. a pugil 
P. M. equal quanti- 
ties 
S. A. according to art 
q. s. a sufficient 
quantity. 
IS, or ss, half of any 
thing 
cong. congius, a gal- 
lon 
coch, cochleare, a 
spoonful 
M. raanipulus, a 
handful 
q. pi. as much as 
you please 
P. P. pulvis pa- 
trum, the Jesuit’s 
bark. 
Characters used in music, and of mu- 
sical notes, with their proportions, are as 
follow : 
Characters in medicine and pharmacy. 
R recipe 
a' aa, or ana, of each 
N character of j g p niinim ^ 
a large i » crotchet a 
a long 4 f quaver i 
D a breve 2 g semiquaver ^ 
O a semibreve 1 | demisemiquaver 
tf character of a sharp note: this cha- 
racter, at the beginning of a line or space, 
denotes that all the notes in that line are 
to be taken a semitone higher than in the 
natural series ; and the same affects all the 
octaves above or below, though not mark- 
ed ; but when prefixed to any particular 
note it shows that note alone to be taken a 
semitone higher than it would be without 
such character. 
^ or b, character of a flat note : this is 
the contrai-y to the other above, that is, a 
semitone lower. 
character of a natural note : when in 
a line or series of artificial notes, marked 
at the beginning ^ or ±i: , the natural note 
happens to be required, is is denoted by tliis 
character. 
gj character of the treble cliff. 
^ character of the mean cliff. 
q; bass cliff. 
2, or I, or |, characters of common duple 
time: signifying the measure of two crot- 
chets to be equal to two notes, of which 
four make a semibreve. 
C (J; 1]) characters that distinguish the 
movements of common timey the first im- 
plying slow', the second quick, and the third 
very quick. 
l> I? characters of simple triple 
time, the. measure of which is equal to three 
semibreves, or to three minims. 
|, or I, or characters of mixed triple 
time, where the measure is equal to six 
crotchets or six quavers. 
I, or I, or i, or |, or |, characters of com- 
pound triple time. 
II, or or > 5 ^, characters of that 
species of triple time called the measure of 
twelve times. 
Characters of the rests or pauses of 
time. 
Characters, numeral, used to express 
numbers, are either letters or figures. The 
Arabic character, called also the common 
one, because it is used almost throughout 
Europe in all sorts of calculations, consists 
of these ten digits, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0. 
The Roman numeral character consists of 
seven majuscule letters of the Roman al- 
phabet, viz. I, V, X, L, C, D, M. The I 
denotes one, V tive, X ten, L fifty, C a 
hundred, D five hundred, and M a thou- 
sand. 
The I repeated twice makes two, II ; 
thrice, three. III ; four is expressed thus, 
IV, as I before V or X takes an unit from 
the number expressed by these letters. To 
express six an I is added to a V, VI ; for 
seven, two, VII ; and for eight, three, 
VIII : nine is expressed by an I before X, 
thus, IX. 
The same remark may be made of the X 
before L or C, except that the diminution 
is by tens ; thus, XL denotes forty, XC 
ninety, and LX sixty. The C before D or 
M diminishes each by a hundred. 
The number five hundred is sometimes 
expressed by an I before a C inverted, thus 
