very hard and another very soft. Slight differences cannot be avoided; those that vary least are the best, if they are right in other respects.

A new pen is often greasy, owing to a certain process in the manufacture, and will not retain the ink. Dip it and raise it from the ink slowly, then wipe it; repeat this two or three times and the trouble will be removed.

Good ink is a very difficult thing to procure. It should be sufficiently fluid to flow easily from the pen, dark enough to enable the pupil to see at the time what he is writing, and to judge of hair-strokes and shades. It must not evaporate rapidly from the inkstand, nor leave a layer of mud in it; neither should it mould. Frost should not affect it. Ink should stain the paper in order to be permanent. Its color when thoroughly dry should be a deep black, which neither time nor exposure to the sun can change.

Pupils will learn by experiment that, if they raise the pen from the ink suddenly, it will be too full, and apt to blot; if very slowly, the attraction of the fluid will leave none in the pen; and, therefore, a moderate motion must be used. One experiment is worth hours of talking. Attention to this will save many a blot. Cleanliness is as absolutely necessary for the well-being of the pen as for our own.

Pens should be carefully cleaned at the close of the exercise. Always dip and wipe a new pen two or three times before it is written with, or it will be very likely to make a blot. To avoid the same mishap, the pen should never be wiped on the outside of the pen-wiper, but always between the leaves of it. Should the pen-wiper then happen to get on the book, no dam. age will be done.

A stiff blotter will last the longest, but common blotting. paper, or a piece of newspaper, or any paper, will answer, not indeed for blotting, but for the use we now designate. The copy-book must be kept perfectly clean, and the blotter is to be used for that purpose. The right hand does not soil the book, for it rests on the nails of two fingers and only touches the page with them. It is the left hand that does the mischief. To obviate it, place the blotter so as to cover each column as soon as it is dry after being written, and rest the left hand on that, and not on the page.

HE immediate human instrument in writing is the arm. It consists of three parts, the upperarm, the fore-arm, and the hand. The two connections of these are the elbow and wrist. The arm is attached to the body by the shoulderjoint. The position of the body must, therefore, evidently depend upon the use we wish to make of the arm and hand. This use, then, must be determined first. Various ones have been advo

cated by different teachers. The three following are the most strongly distinguished; the others arise from combinations of two or more of them. First, considering the shoulder as a point of suspension, and moving the whole arm without any support and without any motion of the finger-joints. There are, however, very few who possess sufficient muscular strength and steadiness of nerve to write thus: It is the true movement for striking large capitals and flourishing. Secondly, resting the fore-arm near the elbow and on the nails of the third and fourth fingers, and forming the letters by its movement without any help from the pen-fingers. Thirdly, resting the fore-arm and hand as in the last, while the letters are formed by the movement of those fingers only which hold the pen. This generally leads to â feeble, constrained style.

There Must Be Freedom of Style.-This condition can only be fulfilled by keeping the arm free from all unnatural constraint. This precludes it from affording any support to the body. Again, the letters are to be written across the page on a horizontal line. A requirement of beauty is that this line should be straight. This is secured without much difficulty where the base is ruled. The only important thing is to keep on it. If, now, we take pen in hand, use the elbow, placed opposite the middle of the page, for a pivot, and move the hand across, we find that the arc of a circle is described, touching the base line in only two points. In the middle it rises a full half inch above the base line. This is a difficulty to be overcome. Once more, whilst mere form does not de mand consideration here, because readiness in shaping letters can only be acquired by practice, yet uniformity of slope and similarity of turns, which are required, will evidently greatly depend upon the maintenance of the same relative position of the pen, hand, and fore-arm for each letter. If we now ob serve a little farther the movement above described, we find that in it the position of the hand in relation to each succeeding letter is changed, and assumes a new direction. How can this difficulty be overcome? Again, it is clear that we shall be able rite much faster, if the pen touches the paper lightly, th if it press on it heavily: this also contributes greatly seedom of y.. Finally, in order to boldness of style, po erful must.es must, if possible, be brought into play in aid o the slight muscles of the fingers, while forming the letters This would also help to prevent fatigue. To sum up, the essentials of the work to be done are: long continuance freedom, forming the letters on a horizontal straight line across the page, uniformity of slope and similarity of turns, rapidity and boldness. The conditions we have found to be hereby imposed on the arm are: avoidance of unnatural constraint, relief of all unnecessary pressure, movement of the hand and fore-arm across the page with the same relative position to each letter, and counteraction of the curve arising from this movement, adequate support, and use of powerful muscles.

The Human Instrument.-A little in front of the elbow, at the thickest part of the fore-arm, we find a mass of muscle If the arm is placed on the desk, suspended from the shoulder, and resting lightly on this mass as a support, we find an excellent ability for moving the fore-arm on it with freedom from left to right and back again, within a certain limited distance,

the muscle rolling under the arm. We will name this support the rolling rest. It is of the highest importance to observe the peculiar movement of the fore-arm on this rest. It is not to be so used as that, when the hand passes to the left, the elbow moves to the right, and vice versa. The fore-arm moves sideways as the muscle rolls under it, with sufficient play, when it is placed at right angles to the base line and opposite the middle of a word or short clause, to carry the hand across from one end of it to the other without changing its direction. Bending the wrist sideways to the right-a most cramping movement, and painful if frequently repeated-is thus rendered quite unnecessary, and should be carefully watched against.

By turning the third and fourth fingers under, so that the hand can rest on the corner of their nails, or, if preferred, on the little finger only, another support, like the runners of a sleigh, is provided, capable of moving freely over the paper. We name this the sliding rest. To avoid friction, the wrist should not touch the desk; by means of the two rests, it may easily and comfortably be kept a little raised.

These, then, we conceive to be the natural positions and rests, namely, the right hand and fore-arm in the same straight line, at right angles to the line of writing, and opposite the middle of a long word or a clause of moderate length. The fore-arm is supported on the rolling rest, the hand on the sliding rest, and the wrist slightly raised.

The left fore-arm and hand are placed at right angles to the right fore-arm, with the fingers on the blotter, which covers the part already written, to steady the book, and move it when necessary. The left fore-arm is therefore in the direction of the line of writing.

What now are the movements of the right fore-arm and hand? On the rolling rest the whole fore-arm moves, so as always to be parallel to its first position, and carries with it the hand supported on the sliding rest. The rolling rest is stationary; the sliding rest glides along the paper on a horizontal line, that is, parallel to the line of writing: this is its only movement. The whole fore-arm and hand move gradually to the right in this way, with a nearly continuous motion, for the formation of the successive letters, so that their relative position to every lette is the same. All stoppages of the nails and jerks to get the hand forward are to be absolutely forbidden. This movement o. the hand is named the sliding movement; the movement of the fore-arm we have named the comital movement (Lat. comes, a companion), because it accompanies the hand.

Since the con..tal movement is more or less limited, some further means must be found of keeping the fore-arm and hand in the right relative position to the letters. Two methods offer themselves to us for selection. One is, to draw the paper to the left as we write. The other, which we prefer, is, by means of a lift from the shoulder, to place the fore-arm and hand in a position farther to the right this should be done only at the end of a word. To distinguish this movement, we have named it the lateral movement. In performing it, the hand slides as before. Experiment will now demonstrate that, by the adoption of the rolling rest and the lateral movement, the difficulty mentioned above, of the curve formed by the hand crossing the page, is entirely done away with.

For the attaining of Boldness of Style; the powerful muscles of the fore-arm must be brought into action by a slight play of the whole fore-arm forwards and backwards, in direc. tion of the slope on the rolling rest, over the sliding rest,fixed point, so far as this movement is concerned. This gives a full heft, through the medium of the hand, to the fingers which move the pen, and, as a consequence, boldness of style; just as a large and massive stone rolling down a hill maintains its course over considerable inequalities of surface, while the slightest obstacle diverts a small and light one. This play of the fore-arm we name the muscular movement. The resulting play of the hand, as the medium of its transmission to the pen. fingers, we name the medial movement.

We are now prepared to form a correct judgment as to the best position of the body for the accomplishing of these novements most naturally, and consequently with the least fatigue. It may be summed up in two words. The body must be upright and self-supported. Its relative position to the desk is a matter of comparative indifference; only, all the pupils should conform to one plan. Each position has its advantages and inconveniences. The simplest division of positions is twofold; the right side to the desk, and the face to the desk.

Where we adopt the former, we direct the pupil to turn on his seat, so that his right side may be directly to the desk without touching; the body to be erect, and supported by the spinal column; the left foot slightly advanced. The book is ad. justed with the back to the front edge of the desk, and at å two-seated desk, the top edge of one at the outside edge of the desk, of the other in a line with the inkstand. When opened, the left side of the page to be written is to be placed at the edge of the desk. The left hand is brought across, and the fingers placed on the left side of the page to keep it steady. The right forc-arm is placed on the desk, parallel with the front edge. If necessary, from short-sightedness or bad adaptation of the height of the seats to the desks, the body may be inclined forward from the seat,-never by rounding the back and contracting the chest,—and the head may be bowed somewhat forward by bending the neck. The advantages of this plan of seating the scholars are: the perfectly natural position of the body; the freedom of the right arm from all avoidable weight, and its ability to form the movements required; the certainty that both rests are on thie desk; and the facility with which the teacher can look down the files and along the lines in large classes, and see that every pen is rightly held, and every movement correctly made. An objection to this posi tion is made on the ground that, in business, when using large account-books, it is impossible. We reply, that we adopt this position for learners, because it is very convenient for the teacher. When the art is acquired, the position becomes com. paratively a matter of indifference.

Where we adopt the second method of seating, namely, the body fronting the desk fairly, or with more or less inclination of the right or left side to it, we take care of these two points: that both rests of the right fore-arm shall be on and be kept on the desk, and that the book is at right angles to the right fore-arm. The following troubles are apt to arise: A tendency to sprawl over the desk, and, as a necessary conse quence, to press the chest against it, -a practice most injuri

ous. The book gets turned from its proper position at right angles to the right fore-arm. When writing down a column, a habit we strongly commend for learners, the book must be continually pushed up, or the back rest of the arm will get more and more off the desk. Indeed, pupils are sometimes found actually resting the wrist on the front edge of the desk. On the other hand, this is often the only position the seats admit of; it is the position that must be adopted, when writing in large account-books; and there is no necessity that the above faults should prevail. They certainly will not under the care of a faithful teacher. We conclude, then, that the position of the body at the desk is matter of indifference, provided it is upright and self-supported.

The next point which claims our attention is the manner of holding the pen, and the movement of the pen-fingers. We have seen that the hand is supported on the sides of the nails of the third and fourth fingers. Their ends, being bent under, are separated from the others, and there is room for the execution of the pen-finger movements. The fingers should touch one another at the second joints, as far as the shape of the hand permits: this gives unity and support.

The pen is held by means of the thumb and the first and second fingers. Place the right extremity of the holder against the left side of the second finger just below the nail; the end of the finger will thus be above the pen. Next, adjust the holder obliquely across the left side of the third portion of the first finger, just behind the second joint, the middle finger being at the same time slightly bent. The first two portions of the forefinger may now be closed down on the holder, which will be found to cross and touch them diagonally. The first and second fingers touch throughout. Next, let the upper corner of the fleshy part of the thumb, near the nail, be placed, by slightly bending the thumb, against the lower half of the left side of the holder, opposite the first joint of the middle finger, and the pen will be found in a secure and natural position, both for extension and retraction. It will be observed that we have given the medium position of the pen. The fingers and thumb with the joints slightly bent outwards, straightening them would extend the pen; bending them still more would retract it. The pen is really held between three points, the side of the end of the second finger, the side of the third portion of the first finger behind the second joint in front of the knuckle, and the side of the end of the thumb. The first finger is like the lid of a box placed on it to keep the pen from jumping out; it is also the principal agent in effecting the pressure for the shades.

As to movement, the The first and second

thumb may be regarded as a spring. fingers, by contraction of their muscles, press against it; we relax its muscles, and it yields by bending: thus the downward strokes are made. By relaxing, in turn, the muscles of the fingers, and straightening the thumb by calling its muscles into action, it pushes back the fingers, and the up-strokes are formed. The movement is twofold and alternate, extending and retracting, to form oblique lines, ovals, or horizontals. The pen must be held with the least possible grasp. It is to be at right angles to the base line, and thus in a line with the fore-arm. Great care must be taken to guard against a wrong position of the hand and pen. The pen must be so held

that the right side is turned a little down, so that the right nib touches the paper first when the pen is put down. With this right nib the hair-strokes are made. The nibs, so to speak, are at right angles to the slope; not horizontal. By this means the shades can be made smooth. When it is neglected, the shades will be "scratchy," or rough on one side. A glance at the holder tells the teacher in a moment if the hand is right. With beginners, it will be found almost as variable as a weathercock. Now it is inclined to the right, showing that the hand is lying down, a fault requiring constant watchfulness, and arising from neglect of the comital movement of the fore-arm; now to the left, showing that the hand is turned too far over in that direction. Now the end points outwards, showing the elbow has got away; again, it points inwards, showing that the wrist is bent to the right.

The body with the right side to the desk, or directly facing it, or with either side more or less turned to it. It is to be upright and self-supported.

The fore-arms rest lightly on the desk at right angles to one another. The right is supported by the rolling rest, and the hand by the sliding rest. The left arm has the fingers on the left side of the book, to steady it and to move it when necessary. The copy-book is placed with its vertical lines in the direction of the right fore-arm, and its horizontal lines in that of the left. It must be kept far enough on the desk to allow the rests also to be on. This position of the book at right angles to the right fore-arm is invariable, whatever direction the arm may be in on the desk.

The rolling rest is the muscle in front of the elbow; the sliding rest, the corners of the nails of the third and fourth fingers bent under.

The movements of the fore-arm are three. The comital, which accompanies the sliding movement of the hand, and is made sidewise on the rolling rest. The muscular, which causes the medial movement of the hand, and gives heft to the pen-fingers. It is a play of the arm forwards and backwards on the rolling rest. The consequent medial movement of the hand is made over the sliding rest, of which the only move. ment is in a horizontal line. The lateral is the lifting and moving the whole fore-arm and hand to the right: it is ren dered necessary by the limited scope of the comital.

The simplest movement for beginners is to form the letters by the motion of the fingers, moving the hand and arm along by the united sliding and comital movements, which should be nearly continuous. When thoroughly familiar with these, after considerable practice, the medial and muscular movements may be added to give freedom and boldness of style. The lateral will not be needed until sentences are written.

The movements of the pen fingers are in different directions, by extension and retraction: thus are written oblique straight lines; ovals, direct, inverted, and alternate; and horizontal lines. The shades are made by pressure. As to these, great care is needed. They must be made in ovals, with a gradual increase and diminution of pressure. The usual fault is to make them too abrupt, or with the greatest thickness too long continued. The moment the thickest point is reached, the pressure should begin to diminish. Special directions are given in the analysis of the letters, where needed.