The Washington herald., 1910-08-07

The Society OF Printers. which has its
headquarters in Boston, has appointed a
committee to enlist the services of some
university laboratory in scientifically
presenting the case for reform among
small letters and capitals II IS declared
that as at present constituted the alpha
betical characters retard rather than IA
cilitate the reading OF a printed page.
and iniure the eyes Of a nation OF readers,
says the New York Sun.
Spelling reform. say those who are en-
thusiastlc for alphabet reform, is all very
well. and there Is undoubtedly some
hardship TO children and foreigners in
being obliged 10 master the eccentricities
OF an ilogically spelled language, but
the place where Improvement is most
needed is in the shapes Of the letters
themselves.
The nervous strain Of rapid reading
could be greatly diminished by more
scientific cutting Of type faces. 1t is ar
gued A dozen or so alterations, some OF
them very slight notifications, IN the
forms OF the letters might make it posi-
bic for the average man 70 read with far
less visual effort and with easier grasp
OF the sense. The newspaper which is
now only half read between 145th street
and Rector street would. II printed in the
reformed Typography, be entirely perused,
advertisements and all. Novels which
now require four hours for reading would
be tossed aside IN half the time with con-
sequent gain IN sleep, temper, and gem
eral health. The reading pace OF a CONT
nent would be accelerated by changes
that would increase the legibility OF av-
erage words.
II is easy enough, OF course. to realize
what an unhygienic. unscientihc assert
ment Of characters has been brought TO-
gether in the ordinary type font. They
were neither psychologists nor trained
medical men. those men of the dark and
Middle Ages who developed into the
characteristic Gothic forms characters
received from the Romans. Scientific
men. who have experimental with sug-
gested improvements OF the modern
descendant OF the Gothic. the German
letters. have in many instances given
the effort up as hopeless.
Even the great humanists Of the
Renaissance. creators OF book pages
whose colors and proportions are the de-
light OF modern printers, had only their
artistic instinct as guide in the develop
ment OF their light clear type faces. The
great Geoffroy Tory, royal printer 10
Francis I and rectifer Of the French
language, conducted curious investIga-
tons into the shapes OF letters and dis
covered among them many Quaint analo-
giles 10 the human body; but neither Tory
nor his followers ever thought Of maxi
ing tests for legibility and speed
Down TO this day. whereas several
modern languages have reformed their
spelling, none has commissioned the
scientists to amend its typography. Yet
according 70 experts OF the Society Of
Printers, the waste Of time In civilized
countries due 20 characters which are
not readily recognized or which are easily
mistaken for other letters must amount
to billions Of hours annually. II time is
money the greatest Of ali modern ex-
travagances is the alphabet.
Logically. II any letters must be less
legible than others these should be the
letters that occur least frequently. Yet
It is a curious fact that the seven small
letters which are most largely represent
ed in a full font OF type, E, T, A, I. n,
O. s, are among those that have repeat
edly come off worst IN tests both for
legibnity and liability 10 confusion with
other letters.
The little e" is. OF course. the most
commonly used Of all the characters Of
the alphabet. It is also the most illegible
and is surpassed only by 8. z. and in
liability 70 be confused with some other
letter. or the bad influence It exerts
among its fellows, Dr. Cattell. of Column
lila University, who has made a series OF
studies OF brain and eye inertia, wrote
some time ago:
If I should give the probable time
wasted each day on n single letter, as
e being needlessly illegible. It would
seem almost incredible and II we could
calculate the unnecessary strain put upon
eye and brain It would be stin more
appalling"
It IS well understood among the scien-
fists that "e" belongs in the same class
as the typhoid fly, the undesirable lazi-
ness germ or any other nuisance which
should be exterminated. Several other let
ters are nearly as bad.
The desirabllity OF reform. as brought
out in a recent paper by Prof Harry
Lyman Koopman, librarian OF Brown Uni
verslty, Providence. has prompted the So
ciety Of Printers TO urge that some insti-
tuition whose recommendations would car
~ weight should conduct a series of de-
tailed Investigations and after these
should report upon changes which might
be made for the purpose OF making ordi-
nary print more readable.
Such study would start with the adj
vantage that great deal OF investigat-
ing has already been done in this field.
The general processes Of reading are
now well understood. Since the old DAYS
of learning TO read letter by letter psy-
biologists have discovered pretty accu-
rately just what happens as the eye
travels from word TO word, from line
to line.
BY means OF light ivory cups fastened
10 the eyeball and attached to a record
ing instrument the little pauses by which
the eye rests at intervals on different
portions Of the line have been indicated
by recurring dots on curved or straight
lines. The speed Of reading has been
studied at various places
At the University Of Wisconsin, for ex-
ample, DR.. j. o. Quantz some time ago
experimental upon fifty students TO de-
termine their normal and maximum rates
Of reading. He found that the rate Of
silent reading varied from 31-2 words a
cncord FOR +ba cfor-oot - 20 20 . O. ~ .