which is inserted between the parts of another sentence: brackets are generally used to separate two subjects, or to enclose an explanation, note, or observation, standing by itself."

The grammatical punctuation of the words or sentences enclosed by brackets, and of the context, when they require such pointing, should be the same as that adopted in respect to the parenthesis, and to the clauses between which it is inserted. See pp. 168-70.

Dashes are sometimes used, one before the first bracket, and another after the second, to lead the eye from the preceding portion of the main sentence to the latter. They may with propriety be introduced in such passages as the following: "I know the banker I deal with, or the physician I usually call in,-['There is no need,' cried Dr. Slop (waking), 'to call in any physician in this case.']— to be neither of them men of much religion.”

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II. A COMMA INVERTED [] is sometimes used instead of a very small c, in many proper names beginning with Mac; as, M'Donald, the abbreviation of Macdonald.

This mark seems to be getting out of use; authors and printers now generally preferring the c, either on or above the line, as in McKenzie, McFarlane.

The same mark is sometimes annexed to the letter O in proper names; as, O'Neil: but an apostrophe is more frequently used, and is more correct; as, O'Neil.

III. TWO COMMAS [,,] are occasionally employed to indicate that something is understood which was expressed in the line and word immediately above; as,

By many printers the commas are inverted [thus, "]; but the mode of using them here presented, which was once very common, is a more exact imitation of handwriting.

ая

Names of different persons, though spelled in the same way, the word "John " in the preceding lines, are commonly repeated.

IV. The INDEX, or HAND, points out a passage to which special attention is directed; as, All orders will be promptly and carefully attended to."

V. THREE STARS, placed in this form [**], or N.B., the initials of nota bene, "mark well," are sometimes used for the same purposes as the index.

The characters explained in the two preceding paragraphs are employed chiefly in cards, handbills, advertisements, and catalogues; seldom in books.

Λ

VI. The CARET [A] is used, only in manuscript, to show where a letter or a word was accidentally omitted, but which has afterwards been placed over the line; as,

VII. The BRACE [] is used to connect a number of words with one common term; as,

3 barleycorns

1 inch

12 inches. are equal to 1 foot long measure.

3 feet

1 yard

This character is often found serviceable in lists of articles and in tabular matter, where the object is to save room, or to avoid repetition. The inside of a brace should, as in the example, be turned to that part of the matter which contains most lines.

The brace was once generally used to bind together a triplet, or three lines of poetry having the same rhyme; but this practice is becoming obsolete.

A brace is sometimes put in the side-margin of a page to separate dates, when placed there, from the text.

VIII. MARKS OF ELLIPSIS are formed by means of a long dash, or of a succession of points or stars ****], of various lengths; and are used to indicate the omission of letters in a word, of words in a sentence, or of sentences in a paragraph;

as,

1. Cs is not uniformly distinguished for dignity, wisdom, patriotism or philanthropy.

2. If the great have no other glory than that of their ancestors; if their titles are their only virtues, their birth dishonors them, even in the

estimation of the world.

3. Some persons believe that there are no longer any duties to be fulfilled beyond the tomb; and there are but few who know how to be friends to the dead. The name of our friends, their glory, their family, have still claims on our affection, which it would be guilt not to feel. They should live still in our heart by the emotions which subsist there; in our memory, by our frequent remembrance of them; in our voice, by our eulogiums; in our conduct, by our imitation of their virtues.

In the first example, " C

-S " is substituted for Congress; in

the second, a single clause is omitted; and, in the third, several sentences are left out by the transcriber. Periods are considered much less offensive to the eye than asterisks.

To avoid repetitions in catalogues, a dash is sometimes used instead of the word or words immediately above; as,

Pope's Works, with Notes and Illustrations, 6 vols. calf.

Rape of the Lock, and other Poems.

For other elliptical uses of the dash, see pp. 175, 191, and 195.

IX. LEADERS are dots or periods, used in contents and indexes of books, and in similar matter, to lead the eye to the end of a line, for the completion of the

X. ACCENTS. There are three marks, termed Accents, placed over the vowels; namely, the Acute [ ́], as in fáncy; the Grave [`], as in fàvor; and the Circumflex [^], as in fall. The acute accent commonly represents a sharp, the grave a depressed,

and the circumflex a broad sound.

The grave accent is sometimes placed in verse over the vowel e, to show that it must be fully pronounced; as, cankerèd, Dircè. See p. 199, Remark g..

These characters are also used to denote the inflections of the voice, according to the system invented by Walker; and for various purposes in the Latin, French, and other languages.

There are other

XI. MARKS OF QUANTITY. three marks, indicating the pronunciation, which are sometimes classed among the accents; namely, the Long [], as in rosy; the Breve, or Short [ ], as in fölly; and the Diæresis [ ̈], as in aërial.

The diæresis is usually placed over the latter of two vowels, and denotes that they are to be pronounced separately.

XII. The CEDILLA is a mark resembling a comma, placed under the letter c, when it has the sound of s before a or o, in words taken from the French; as, façade.

XIII. THE TILDE [] is an accentual mark, placed over a in Spanish to give that letter a liquid sound; as, señor, sir.

If great accuracy is required, all such words should be thus printed when occurring in English composition.

XIV. MARKS OF REFERENCE.

The Asterisk, or

Star [*], the Obelisk, or Dagger [†], the Double Dagger [ ‡ ], the Section [§], Parallel Lines [ || ], and the Paragraph [T], are used, in the order here presented, when references are made to observations or notes in the margin.

When references are numerous, the above marks, when they have been all used in one and the same page, and others are required, should be doubled or trebled; as, **, †††. ttt.

But, for purposes of reference, many authors prefer lowercase Italic letters or Arabic figures, enclosed by marks of parenthesis (a) or (1): some using the letters throughout the alphabet, or the figures as far as 10 or 100 inclusive, then beginning again with (a) or (1); and others commencing each page with the first letter or figure.

As, however, all the above marks have a rather clumsy appearance, particularly when they often occur in the same page, it has, in more recent times, been regarded as an improvement to use, in their order, letters or figures of a smaller size, technically called, from their standing above the line, Superiors; as, a or 1. a or 1. If the notes are placed in the margin, it is recommended that the letter a or figure be the first reference of every page in which notes occur; but that figures, and not letters, be employed in regular succession, as far as required, if the notes are introduced at the end of the volume.

1

The ASTERISK is used in some dictionaries to note, either that a word is of Greek origin, or is distinguished by some other peculiarity; and the OBELISK, that a word or phrase is barbarous or obsolete. In Roman-Catholic church-books, the asterisk is used to divide each verse of a psalm into two parts, showing where the responses begin. The obelisk is inserted, instead of the proper square cross, in those places of the printed prayers and benedictions where the priest is to make the sign of the cross. It is also used in the briefs of the pope, and in the mandates of archbishops and bishops, who put this symbol immediately before the signature of their names.

The mark termed the SECTION [§] is sometimes employed, as in Locke's "Essay on the Human Understanding," to divide books or chapters into smaller portions; and that called the PARAGRAPH [¶] occurs frequently in the authorized version of the Bible.