LESSONS IN PENMANSHIP.-XXVII. OFFICIAL HANDWRITING.-I. In our early lessons in Penmanship—after giving the necessary preliminary instructions for regulating the position of the hand, arm, and body when engaged in writing, and the proper mode of holding the pen-we furnished the learner with ample details respecting the formation of the small letters of the writing alphabet, and brought him forward on his way, step by step, until he was able to write words and sentences involving the introduction of capital letters and figures. The copy-slips set before him, as examples for practice and illustrations of all that was advanced in our lessons, were of such a nature that he was perforce compelled to copy them slowly him thus far on his way, the rest remains entirely with himself; the best and only thing indeed that we can do to aid him in the acquirement of a distinctive and characteristic form of handwriting being to place before him models, consisting of various styles of writing, that have been approved by persons who are competent judges of what is desirable in handwriting calculated for the government office, the solicitor's desk, or the merchant's counting-house. As many of our readers are doubtless desirous of entering the Civil Service, and are anxious to know what style of writing will be deemed satisfactory by the examiners appointed to test the qualifications of candidates, we bring under their notice, in will you please give and deliberately, directions in order to become acquainted with the forms of the letters and their relative proportions, and to give each up-stroke and down-stroke its proper thickness, inclination, and curvature, which he could not have done had he attempted to execute his task with that in future successful candidates the rapidity with which writing of an ordinary kind is written. to write rapidly as the present lesson, two specimens of official handwriting which have met with the approval of Her Majesty's Civil Service Commissioners, and of which we have their kind permission to give the accompanying fac-similes. We append an extract from the report itself, from which, aided by a careful study of the accompanying specimens of handwriting, our readers will be able to form a clear idea of what is required of am directed by the Civil Service Commissioners to acknowledge well as clearly, the receipt of your taking care, however, that they do not sacrifice legibi 25th lity and plain 25 instant ness in causing the pen to move over the paper with too SPECIMEN OF HANDWRITING APPROVED BY HER MAJESTY'S CIVIL SERVICE great a degree of quickness. And here it is necessary for us to say, that although we have done as much as is possible to give each learner the clearest instructions for making the letters of the writing alphabet, the ultimate formation of his handwriting, or, in other words, the adoption and acquirement of certain distinctive peculiarities that will eventually give a special character to his writing as he gradually becomes less and less of a mere copyist, imitating in every detail the set shape, inclination, and curvature of the letters set before him, must rest entirely with himself. His handwriting must be based, it is true, on the instructions we have given, and the more closely he adheres to them, the more legible his writing will be. But having helped 29-x.K attention paid to the subject in schools, the quantity of bad handwriting which comes before us is still very great; and we are therefore unable, without causing inconvenience to the public departments, by delay in supplying vacancies, to enforce so high a standard in this respect as we should desire. It is almost superfluous to state that we do not demand or desire that the writing should be of any particular style, provided that it possesses the main characteristic of legibility. What we require, as candidates are invariably informed, is 'the clear formation of the letters of the alphabet.' Speaking of the accompanying specimens of official writing, which are fac-similes of documents written in one of the public offices, the Commissioners further say, "Representing, as they do, the ordinary current work of the writers, they are not given as free from faults; but we think that they will show that the essential quality of distinctness may be obtained without the sacrifice of other desirable elements of a good official hand." Besides these there are the improper diphthongs, formed by Chn, or w, and the iota subscriptum, or written under, as q, ?, 4. Both the proper and the improper diphthongs are long, or, in other words, receive the stress of the voice in pronunciation. When two vowels commonly pronounced as one sound (a diphthong) are pronounced separately, a diæresis (separation) is produced, which is denoted by two dots set over the second vowel; as, eï, oï, av. The consonants are divided, first according to the organs chiefly employed in pronouncing them. Thus, in uttering some, we use the palate or upper part of the throat; these are termed Others are designated gutturals (Latin, guttur, a throat). labials, being such as come mostly from the lips (Latin, labium, a lip). Others, again, bear the name of linguals, from Latin, lingua, a tongue. K, Y, X. π, B, O, H. 7, 8, 0, λ, ", P, σ. Another division arises according to the different manner in which the organs of speech act in their formation. Thus we obtain The semi-vowels or liquids, A, μ, v, p; the sibilant or hissing sound, σ; the mutes, π, к, т, B, y, d, o, x, 0. These nine mutes are also divided into three gutturals, three labials, and three linguals. In this division regard is had to the organs of speech. If, however, we give attention to the predominant sound, then we classify these nine mutes thus:1, those of the k sound; 2, those of the t sound; and, 3, those of the p sound. Once more, they may be considered according to the force or hardness of the utterance, and be separated into three soft, three hard (or middle), and three aspirated. The whole is presented in this tabular view of THE CONSONANTS CLASSIFIED. Soft. Gutturals K, Linguals Labials Hard. T, 8, Aspirated. X, K sound. 0, T sound. В, 4, P sound. ponent parts-that is, by the inversion of crasis or by dissolution-you obtain the two words entire; so TOUTOS becomes To επος ; also ταγαθα becomes τα αγαθα. The Greeks paid great attention to euphony, or pleasing sound. Consequently they studied to prevent two vowels from coming into immediate succession, so as to cause an hiatus or stoppage of the flow of the sound-such a stoppage as would take place, if instead of saying an hiatus (Latin, a gaping), we were to say a hiatus. To avoid this unpleasant suspension of the breath, we, in English, convert a into an. In the same way, and for the same purpose, the Greeks employed any at the end 1. Of the dative plural in σ, and adverbs of place ending in σι: 28, πασιν ελεξα; ἡ Πλαταιασιν ἡγεμονια. 2. Of the third person singular and plural ending in σ, as τυπτουσιν εμε; τίθησιν εν τη τραπεζη; also with εστι, 13 εστιν εμοι. 3. Of the third person singular in e, as eTUTTEV EμE, 4. Of the numerals, as ekоow avôpes; but not always; there fore we find also εικοσι άνδρες. Regard to euphony also led the Greeks to drop the in the adverb outws before a word beginning with a consonant: thus, όντως εποίησεν ; but δυτω ποιεω. Thus the preposition ex, as in ek rns einvns, becomes & before a vowel, as e§ eipnuns. The same practice obtains in the negative oux (not, no), as ουκ αισχρος, ου καλος; also, ουχ ήδυς. In the last example the aspirate in dvs requires the aspirated form of x, that is x, immediately before it, for in Greek only letters of the same kind together, that is, a soft sound with a soft sound, a hard with a hard, and an aspirated sound with an aspirated sound. But of this matter I shall have more to say by-and-by. go The points employed in punctuating Greek are few; by the original writers points were not at all used. The comma, the period, and the note of exclamation are employed as in English. What with us is called the semicolon is used in Greek as a note of interrogation; and the colon is one dot placed at the top of the word, thus Ει έλεξας Period : παντες ὡς ὡμολογησεν. Interrogation ; τις ταύτα εποίησεν; PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTION IN THE VERB. Before I proceed to treat of nouns I must say a few words respecting the verb, inasmuch as without some knowledge of the verb you will be unable to form sentences, as I intend you should from your earliest acquaintance with the Greek grammar. Parts of the verb eval, to be, are indispensable. I here put down such as you will want, together with the corresponding English, or what is commonly called "the meaning." ειμι, 1001, be thou. eoTw, let him be. PARTS OF THE VERB elvai, TO BE. From a union of the mutes with the sibilant σ there are pro- word beginning with a vowel. duced these $ (z Zeta) Sometimes a vowel at the end of a word or syllable, standing before another vowel which begins a word or syllable, is elided or struck out, when we produce what is termed elision (Latin e, out of, and lædo, I dash). Instead of the elided vowel, an apostrophe' is put. Elision takes place in all the prepositions except Tepi and pо. When prepositions are compounded with verbs that begin with a vowel, the apostrophe is not used; thus, απ' οίκου is the elided form of απο οικον, and απέφερον is the elided form of aжо-εpepov. When, however, the two vowels thus coming the one before the other, are melted or blended together, so as to form one long syllable or diphthong, what is grammatically called crasis (Greek, a mixing) takes place. Thus To eros by crasis or krasis becomnes τουπος. By resolving the double vowel into its com Here you observe that the passive is made by adding to the root TUTT the suffix oua, instead of the letter w, by which the first person singular of the active is formed. The Greeks have a third voice. In the present tense this voice is not distinguished in form from the passive; being the game word τυπτομαι. In signification, however, the third voice differs from the active and the passive. This third voice, under the name of the middle voice, denotes a reflex action, that is, an action which turns back on the agent or actor, as 77opa beat myself. The middle signification is sometimes best rendered by another word; thus, instead of saying, I advise myself, we may Bay, I consult, or I take advice. Observe how these several changes in the terminations are produced. The stem, or permanent form of the word, is Bouleu. Το βουλευ, the endings, ω, εις, ει, ομεν, ετε, ουσι, are added, according to the person and number you may wish to form. Thus, to form the infinitive active, corresponding with our English to advise, you add eu to Bouλeu, and so produce BovλEU-ELY. If you wish to put into Greek our advise thou, you adde to Bouλev, and so produce Bouλev-e, the second person singular of the imperative mood. You proceed in the saine way with any other verb. In order to make the matter clear, I put the endings here apart from any verb :- 20. Καλώς έχει ανδρειως μαχεσθαι. 21. Ει διωκή, μη φευγε. 22 Avopeiws paxov. 23. Ει βλακεύουσι, ψεγονται. 24. Ει αληθεύεις, πιστευῃ. 25. Αει αριστεύετε. 26. Μετρίως εσθιε και πινε και παιζε. EXERCISE 2. 1. I am true. 2. Thou art true. 3. He is true. 4. We are true. 5. You are true. 6. They are true. 7. If I speak the truth, I am believed. 8. Do not fight. 9. They fight. 10. Follow ye. 11. Thou followest. 12. Ye follow. 13. He plays. 14. They fly. 15. If they flee, they are pursued. 16. I am admired. 17. They are admired. 18. If they are idle, they are not admired. 19. It is well to fight bravely. 20. Eat and drink moderately. 21. They do not hasten. 22. If thou flatterest, thou art not admired. 23. He writes well. 24. They write badly. 25. It is well to be always the best. 26. You live moderately. 27. They eat too much. I will now give you some directions as to these exercises. First, then, you must repeat each word in the vocabulary until you have impressed it indelibly upon your memory. Then proceed, with the aid thus gained, to translate the Greek sentences into English, and put the English words into their corresponding Greek words, paying due regard to the model or pattern given you here and in other cases. In translating from the one language into the other, you may derive aid from consulting the Greek and the English as given in the exercises; that is, if you are translating from Greek into English, consult the exercise given in English, finding the example most like the one you have to translate; and if you are translating from English inte Greek, then in the same way consult the exercise given in Greek. Be not in haste to advance, but be very careful to do everything thoroughly; make every first step sure before you attempt to take a second step. Bear in mind the Latin proverb "festina lenté," hasten slowly; in English, "slow and steady wins the race." Do not be content with writing an exercise once, write it again and again; and when you think you have made it quite correct, then commit it to memory. The Greek is a language in which compounds are readily and copiously formed. The Greek may, in consequence, be acquired with comparative ease, provided the student is trained in the formation of the compounds. The necessary instructions I shall endeavour to impart. With this view I shall supply lists of words etymologically connected with those which are given in the vocabulary. A knowledge of one word will thus become to the learner a knowledge of several. Let us take, as an instance, the verb Bouλevw, the present tense of which stands above. Βουλεύω, I advise, comes from βουλη, advice or counsel; βουλη leads to Bovλeia, the dignity or office of a counsellor; thence we derive Bouλetov, a council-house; Bovλevμa, a determination; Bovλevrns, a counsellor; Bovλevyopew, to speak in a council; besides other terms. These words are again modified in meaning, as well as multiplied by means of prepositions; e.g., in combination with σvy, with, Bovλn forms another set of terms, as ovpßovλevμa, a resolution; ovμßovλevois, the communication of a resolution ; συμβουλευτης, a joint counsellor; συμβουλευω, 1 give counsel; ovμßovλos, a senator. It would be easy to extend this list. But without going further, here are eleven words connected in origin, form, and meaning with one word. When, then, you know that one, you have a key to all the rest. With a few roots, you thus see, you would soon become master of a copious vocabulary; and as the roots of the language are not numerous, the acquisition of it, when rightly studied, is by no means a very difficult task. N.B.-The roots will be printed in capitals. Let the Etymological Vocabulary, no less than the above Vocabulary for the Exercises, be thoroughly committed to memory. ETYMOLOGICAL VOCABULARY. AAHOн, true. Αληθεύω, I am true. Aλn@ela, truth. Αληθευσις, truthful ness. 8. | Αληθινολογια, truthspeaking. Αληθινος, true, genuine. Αληθομαντις, & true soothsayer. In the word aλnlivoλoyia, truth-speaking, there are two compounds, namely, αληθινος from αληθης, and λογος : λογος means speech, a word. Aλŋ@ivoλoyia is then a compound word, resembling in form as well as import this term which we coin for the purpose of illustration, namely, truth-speaking. Take another instance from our own language. Aristocracy is made up of apioTos, best, and крaтeια, power or government, and so signifies, not best government, but the government of the best. Barium Casium Calcium Cerium THE METALS. Графікоѕ, pertaining to writing. letter. Γραμματεία, the art of writing. Chromium Li. 7. Vanadium V. 137. Mg. You cannot obtain all the information contained in the Etymological Vocabulary, until you know the second word which enters into combination with each separate root. I shall therefore supply those second terms, together with their significations. SECONDARY COMPONENTS. Obs.-Note that the pronoun is implied in the verb, and consequently you do not need a separate pronoun in translating. Thus ypapw is I write; involving the pronoun I, as well as the verb write. So ypaper is he writes, and ypapoμev is we write. LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY.-II. ELEMENTARY SUBSTANCES-METALLOIDS-METALS-SALT ACID-ALKALI-BASE-CHEMICAL NOMENCLATURE. ELEMENTARY SUBSTANCES.-Seeing that "atoms" are indivisible, and that cohesion binds them into masses, whilst affinity joins different atoms to form new substances, it naturally follows that all bodies are either simple or compound. Simple or elementary substances cannot be split up into others which essentially differ from the original body, whilst compound substances can. In the example of chemical combinations given in the last lesson, the sulphur and copper were simple substances or "elements," and the sulphide of copper, which was formed on the application of heat, was a compound" body. No efforts of the chemist have proved sufficient to split up sulphur or copper. They defy all power to alter or change them; but, by using certain means, the sulphide of copper can be made to resolve itself once more into its components-copper and sulphur. - The constitution of a body may be determined by two means: either by analysis, which is separating a body into its components or elements, or by synthesis, which is the putting together of the components to form the body. By analysing the substances of which our earth is composed, sixty-three elements have been discovered; and in after years, when we possess more powerful means of analysis, we may find that some of these "elements" are capable of further division. The elements are usually divided into forty-nine metals and fourteen non-metallic substances or metalloids. The distinction between these two classes is not very satisfactory. The metals are opaque, they possess metallic lustre, and are good conductors of heat and electricity. The metalloids either want these properties or possess them only in a very low degree. This division is not very accurate, for iodine and carbon, though metalloids, both have metallic lustre; and the latter, in the form of plumbago or graphite, is a good conductor of electricity. For the sake of convenience and shortness in writing, symbols are used for the elements. These consist of the first-or the first and most characteristic-letter of the Latin name of the body. In the following table, the metals printed in italics are of rare occurrence : Erbium Lithium Magnesium Manganese Mercury (Hy. dragium) The numbers in the third column are the combining weights, or, as they are sometimes called, the equivalent numbers, or atomic weights. A chemical compound is made up of molecules. Each molecule, as we have seen, is composed of atoms, and each atom is indivisible; therefore, whatever proportion the atoms bear to each other in the molecule-whether in number, or weight, or volume-they will have that same proportion in the mass. For instance, if we analyse 18 grains of water, we shall find that 16 grains are oxygen and 2 grains are hydrogen, but the molecule of water is composed of 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 of oxygen; therefore we conclude that one atom of oxygen weighs 16 times the atom of hydrogen, and in the 2 grains of hydrogen there will be double the number of atoms that there are in the 16 grains of oxygen, because such is the case in the molecule. Because hydrogen is the lightest of all known bodies, its atom is taken as the standard, and by careful analyses the comparative weights of all other atoms have been determined. The French take the equivalent of oxygen-100-as their standard. It is to be remembered, then, that the atomic weight of any element signifies the relation in weight which the atom of that element bears to an atom of hydrogen; and since chemical compounds are formed by the union of atoms, the atomic weight will also represent the weight in which the element will enter into combination. Sometimes one, two, or many atoms enter into the compound, so that whatever may be the quantity of the element, it must always be a multiple of the atomic weight; hence the name combining weight. And it very frequently happens that one element in a compound is replaced by another, one atom taking the place of another, the weight of one atom being equivalent to the weight of the other; hence the name equivalent number. The student will soon become familiar with these laws of combination. In writing compounds, the symbols of the elements are placed side by side, and the number of atoms, if more than one, written beneath. CuO copper and oxygen combined, to form the oxide of copper. H,O= water; 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 of 0. 2NH, =2 atoms of ammonia; that is, 2 atoms of N and 6 of H. A salt is a compound of an acid and a base. An acid is a body which usually possesses a sour taste, and will redden litmus paper and vegetable blues. Formerly it was supposed to owe its properties to the presence of oxygen, but it has been found that an acid can exist without that hydrogen must always be present. Hence, an acid is now defined to be a salt of hydrogen. The alkalies are the strongest bases. A base is generally the oxide of a metal. Acids which end in ic make salts which end in ate. Sulphuric acid (H.SO) makes sulphates. Nitric acid (HNO1) makes nitrates. Those which end in ous make salts ending in ite. Sulphurous acid (H2SO2) makes sulphites. Nitrous acid (HNO,) forms nitrites. And it will be observed that the acids in ous have an atom less oxygen than those in ic. CHEMICAL NOMENCLATURE.-Salts may be formed by the replacement of the hydrogen in the acids by an atom of metal. Some metals are capable of replacing 1 atom of hydrogen, some 2, some 3, and others 4. They are said to be respectively monatomic, diatomic, triatomic, and tetratomic, and the most important may be arranged thus-only those in italics may be learntMONATOMIC.-Cesium, Lithium, Potassium, Sodium, Rubidium, Silver, Thallium. DIATOMIC.-Barium, Cadmium, Calcium, Cerium, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Didymium, Glucinum, Iron, Lanthanum, Lead, Magnesium, Manganese, Mercury, Nickel, Palladium, Strontium, Thorium, Uranium, Zinc. TRIATOMIC.-Aluminium, Antimony, Arsenic, Bismuth, Gold, Rhodium. TETRATOMIC.-Niobium, Platinum, Tantalum, Tin, Titanium, Zir conium. The atomicity of the chief metalloids is here given :- If we take for the type of the oxides, water, H2O (the oxide of hydrogen), then K,O is the oxide of potassium or potash. To get the oxide of gold, the H must be in a multiple of 3; therefore take 3 atoms of H,O: 3H,O=H,O,. Now gold is triatomic, 1 atom being capable of replacing 3 of H, hence the oxide of gold = Au2O,. Tin is tetratomic; we must therefore have the H in 4 atoms, or a multiple of 4: 2H,0 = H ̧02. 1 atom Sn replaces H,, hence SnO, is the oxide of tin. The mode of constructing this table will be easily understood, and the student should accustom himself to write the formulas of all the salts of the metals, the simple rule being, take the acid of the required salt, and for its hydrogen substitute the equivalent number of atoms of the metal. The types which are placed at the head of the columns are the compounds of hydrogen, in some cases acids : pence column, and adding the 2 shillings to the row of shillings, we get 40 shillings-i.e., 2 pounds exactly. Writing down a cipher under the shillings' column, to show that there are no shillings over, and adding the 2 pounds to the pounds' column, we get 23 pounds, which we write down under the pounds' column. 4. Rule for Compound Addition. Write the quantities so that those of the same denomination stand under each other. Beginning with the lowest denomination, find the sum of each column separately, and divide it by that number which is required to make one of the next highest denomination. Set the remainder under the column added, and carry the quotient to the next column. Obs. In the example given above we expressed the farthings in a separate column for clearness, and not as fractions of a penny, but it is not usual to do so. 1. Add together the following examples in Compound Addition : 1. £3 17s. Od., £12 5s. 101d, £2 0s. 54d. 2. £4 19s. 11 d., £15 14s. 34d., £21 17s. 2d., £57 13. 9d., 16s. 0дd., £1 28. 3 d. 3. £22 3s. 51d., £13 2s. O‡d., £33 14s. 97d., £23 19s. 10d. 4. £987 17s. 10 d., £896 16s. 11d., £774 12s. 102d., £916 18s. 91d., £768 15s. 6d. 5. £4736 16s. 11d., £9804 11s. 10}d, £3896 12s. 6d., £7925 178. 11jd, £8730 12s. 10 d., £4913 15s. 74d., £7835 16s. 91d., £9768 178. 10d. 21 7 12 10 HS 16. chloric acid). (chloric acid). (sulphu retted 14 17 1623 hydrogen). EXAMPLE.--Add together £6 11s. 54d., £4 98. 61d., £3 12s. 83d., and £8 6s. 91d. Placing the farthings under the farthings, the pence under the pence, etc., we add the farthings, which amount to 7-i.e., to 1 penny and three farthings. Writing down the 3 farthings under the farthings' column, and adding in the 1 penny to the row of pence, we get 29 pencei.e., 2 shillings and 5 pence. Writing the 5 pence under the 15 5 7 12. gals. qts. 73 3 19. 10 7 30 60 2 cong. 0 13 13 9 6 25 40 1 2 5 15 7 42 7 5 63 65 2 5 |