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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
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<div class="text" style="color: #FFFFFF"> A Web Site dedicated to the
perpetuation of Gregg’s Light-Line Phonography</div></td>
<td width="182" bgcolor="#CC3333"><div align="center" style="color: #FFFFFF">
- Anniversary Manual -</div></td>
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<td width="178"> <span><a href="index.html">Home</a><br />
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<td width="79%" colspan="2" class="text"><h3 align="center">CHAPTER
TWO</h3>
<p align="center"><strong>CURVILINEAR MOTION</strong></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify"> Motion in curves is more beautiful
than that in straight lines, both because of the greater beauty
of the curved line and because curvilinear motion indicates less
effort.
<div style="text-align: right">—Dr. Francis Wayland</div>
<br />
A good curve is not uniform in curvature, but
curves most near one end.
<div style="text-align: right">—John Ruskin</div>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> In closing the preceding chapter I said that
my next talk would be about “the most important element of
either longhand or shorthand.”<br />
That element is the <em>predominance of curve
motion</em>. This feature is probably the most radical departure
from the older lines of shorthand construction to be found in the
system. Curiously enough, its importance has not been fully appreciated
by many writers and teachers, although, when the system was first
published, many shorthand authors and others interested in the scientific
aspect of shorthand recognized it to be an extremely radical step.<br />
<strong>A New Idea.</strong> — The distinguished
French shorthand author and reporter, M. Jean P. A. Martin, of Lyons,
wrote me under date of June 24, 1888—Less than a month after
the publication of “Light-Line Phonography,” as Gregg
Shorthand was then called—and the very day he received a copy
of my first book:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> The postman has brought me your book this
morning. . . . I can but think well of a system that embodies
all the ideas defended by me time and again, and is mainly constructed
after the principles laid down by Conen de Prépéan,
the real founder of continental shorthand.<br />
There is, however, a point that is quite new
to me; I mean the predominance given by you to curve motion. Whilst
Mr. Clement Gourju in his Semiographie, and Mrs. De Wik Potel
in her Dewikagraphie, endeavored to do away with all consonantal
curves, whilst <em>nearly</em>, all of us have criticized large
curves (I say the large ones, and not the small ones), you have
taken an opposite view of the case.<br />
I am glad you have, because I have no doubt
you will soon produce reporters, and their notes will be of value
to shorthand scientists. We shall better be able to form an opinion
on the advisability of predominant curve motion in shorthand writing.
We shall watch your progress with great interest. We look upon
your system as a very valuable experiment. You are the exponent
of an idea, and we <span style="font-size: 10px">LOVE</span> <em>ideas</em>
when they are carried into actual practice.<br />
I shall ever be glad to give my support to
men who fight for the supremacy of the sound principles established
by Conan de Prépéan. It is not because your shorthand
principles are French; it is because they are scientific, and
Science knows no borders, no nationalities; it is human.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> Writing me again on July 30, 1888, M. Martin
said:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> We do everything we can in order to diminish
the number of curves in our representation. You do <em>the very
reverse</em>: you remove nearly all the straight lines from the
consonantal alphabet. The point at issue must be settled through
experience, through practice. You now understand why Shorthand
Scientists are anxious to see the notes of several Light-Line
Phonographers written at a speed of over 120 words a minute. They
want to know what will be the effect of the predominant curve
motion on a page of shorthand. Of course, there is no question
about this or that system; we do not care about systems. Scientifically
speaking, we study ideas, principles, and see what results they
yield, no matter the alphabet. And I can but repeat what I said
before: yours is a new idea. Light-Line Phonography is, in our
opinion a very valuable experiment which all persons who are studying
the Science of Shorthand cannot fail to watch with great interest.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> At this point it may be interesting to quote
what I said on this subject in the preface to the first edition
of “Light-Line Phonography,” in describing the “main
features” of the system:</p>
<p align="center">T<span style="font-size: 10px">HE </span>P<span style="font-size: 10px">REDOMINANCE
OF </span>C<span style="font-size: 10px">URVE </span>M<span style="font-size: 10px">OTION</span></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> Curves, the prevailing element of ordinary
penmanship, being more facile than straight lines, the author
has, so far as is compatible with a well-balanced alphabet, assigned
to them the representation of the most frequently recurring consonants.
In addition to this, the straight characters have been so arranged
that the most frequently recurring combinations of letters form
an <em>obtuse</em> angle at their point of junction, and such
angle not being observed, the letters are allowed to coalesce
naturally in the form of a large curve; thus curve motion has
its rightful preponderance, the maximum of facility obtainable
from this source is secured, and the system is freed from the
unnatural zig-zag motion of the ordinary shorthand.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> This is expressed in somewhat pretentious language—I
was very young then!—but it shows that recognition of the
prevalence of curves in longhand writing was an important factor
in the construction of the system.<br />
In my earlier experiments at shorthand construction
I followed the beaten path. The result was an <em>angular</em> style
of writing—a truly “script-geometric style,” as
someone described it. This realization that curvilinear motion was
the greatest of all the elements of longhand writing placed me on
the path which led to “Light-Line Phonography” and it
is the feature of the system to which, more than to any other, is
due its wonderful success.<br />
<strong>The Combination Principle.</strong>
— Those who have read the “Story of Gregg Shorthand”
as told at the Silver Jubilee meetings (and afterwards published
in pamphlet form) will remember the emphasis placed upon the discovery
of the <em>combination</em> principle, as distinguished from the
assignment of characters to the letters in accordance with their
<em>individual</em> values. The successful working out of the combination
principle depended upon a scientific analysis and utilization of
the curvilinear motion of longhand, beginning with the ellipse or
oval as a basis.<br />
The assignment of the characters according to
<em>individual</em> values in the older systems naturally and inevitably
resulted in the straight lines being given the preference, as stated
in the letters from M. Jean P. A. Martin, which I have quoted. Straight
lines <em>when joined</em>, resulted in a jerky, angular style of
writing. Mr. Hugh B. Callendar, B.A., of Cambridge University, put
this truth very well when he said:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> It is commonly stated that straight lines
are more facile than curves. This is true of a series of straight
lines described independently; but the curve often has the advantage
in the matter of joining to other characters, for its curvature
may generally be varied, especially near the ends, so as to make
the joining easier.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> Mr. D. P. Lindsley, author of “Lindsley’s
Takigraphy,” in writing about “The Nature of Angles,”
said:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> When the hand is in rapid motion, any change
of direction must hinder the speed of the writing. If the first
glide into the second without any angle, the highest speed can
be secured.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> Writing on this subject, another well-known
author and teacher, Mr. R. L. Eames, said:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> It has been said that Nature abhors a vacuum;
I believe I may add with truth that Nature abhors a straight line.
Nowhere in the whole domain of the universe can there be found
a single instance of natural motion in a straight line. No system
based on this principle (of straight lines) can be easily written,
or naturally rapid, but must depend for stenographic capability
on extreme brevity.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> <strong>An Unusual Review. </strong>—
About a year after the publication of “Light-Line Phonography”
a review of it appeared in a newspaper in South Africa — the
<em>Cape Argus</em>, Cape Town.<br />
I do not know who wrote the article, but in
the thirty years that have passed since then I have not seen a more
satisfactory or penetrating review of the system. The following
sentences from it have a direct bearing on the subject of this article
— curve motion:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> The inventor hits Pitman in a vulnerable
part when he claims “frequency of curves, and infrequency
of angles.” Awkward angles—awkward to make and liable
to run into incorrect forms—are unquestionably a weak point
in Pitman, because when one set of wrist and forearm muscles are
being used these angles demand a sudden jump to another set, which
tends as it were, to throw the machinery out of gear. In the system
before us the inventor seems to be on the right lines. The great
thing in rapid writing is not that the strokes should be as brief
and few as possible, but that they should flow with perfect ease
and without the slightest hesitation from the pen. Therefore it
follows that if there is to be improvement in the shape of characters,
it will come in the direction of keeping the lines as much as
possible in one direction, choosing lines easily made, and discarding
those which tend to check the fingers and call into play a set
of muscles different from those ordinarily employed. Mr. Gregg’s
system looked at from this point of view is one which certainly
deserves attention from those interested in the subject—in
fact great success is claimed for it already.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> Everyone knows that a stiff, angular style
of longhand writing always connotes a <em>slow</em> writing, and
that an easy, rapid, effortless style of writing abounds in curves,
because curves are written with a free, rolling continuous motion.
The muscles are relaxed in making elliptical curves; straight lines
necessitate greater rigidity of hand. If this be true of longhand,
it must be equally true of shorthand.<br />
Some very significant admissions about the value
of curve motion occur in “Phonography in the Office,”
a book published by Isaac Pitman & Sons. After deploring the
tendency of students to write a heavy style of shorthand, the author
of the book, Mr. Alfred Kingston, says:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> The increased friction from the resistance
of the paper makes it a serious obstacle to the acquisition of
speed, to say nothing of the difficulty of distinguishing thin
and thick strokes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> Mr. Kingston then proceeds to give an exercise
to be practiced for the purpose of counteracting this heavy style,
but he takes care to say:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> The exercise is so framed as to consist<em>
almost exclusively of light curves</em>. The selection of words
and phrases which favor a continuous flowing style of writing
will also enable the writer to take it down easily. <em>The rate
of speed acquired in the writing of such a passage will be much
greater than upon an ordinary passage, and it must not be used
as a test of speed, or the result will be very misleading.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> It is surprising that Isaac Pitman & Sons
permitted that statement to appear in one of their books. But at
the time it was published the Pitman firm did not have competition
with a system based on “light curves,” which yield “greater
speed” than angular zig-zag writing—a system free from
the “increased friction” caused by heavy strokes.<br />
So far, in speaking of curve motion in longhand,
I have discussed it mainly from the practical standpoint. The following
quotation about “the beauty of curves,” from Dr. Francis
Wayland was sent to me by one of our writers who thought it applicable
to the writing of the system:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> Motion in curves is more beautiful than that
in straight lines, both because of the greater beauty of the curved
line, and because curvilinear motion indicates less effort. For
these reasons, the motion of a fish in the water has always seemed
to me remarkably beautiful. The waving of a field of grain, presenting
an endless succession of curved lines, advancing and receding
with gentle motion, uniform in the midst of endless variety, has
always seemed to me one of the most beautiful objects in Nature.
On the contrary, jolting and angular motion always displeases
us. How different is the effect produced by the motion of one
man on crutches, and of another on skates.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify"> Yet there are some people who still adhere
to a belief in “jolting, angular motion,” as the true
basis of shorthand writing!<br />
In the preceding chapter I stated that our system
was based on the <em>ellipse</em> or oval, and that this was the
vital distinction between it and geometric systems, which are founded
on the <em>circle</em> and its segments. Bearing this in mind, you
will realize that the ellipse embodies the natural <em>curve motion
</em>of the hand in writing. This is the feature which distinguishes
our system not only from the geometric systems, but from all other
systems that claim to be founded on longhand or on the slope of
longhand.*<br />
My next subject will be an important and original
development of curve motion, which came about in a very interesting
way.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify"> * As this book is going to press my attention
has been called to the results of an investigation made by The National
Institute of Industrial Psychology (London), an institution established
to promote efficiency in industry. The Institution’ reports
the findings of its skilled and trained psychologists after an investigation
of the mental and physical qualities of operatives in factories
and workshops, as follows:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify">
<p> While the shortest distance between two points
is a straight line; the investigators have found that curved movements
of the hands, though longer than straight movements, may be quicker
in the end. .. . Workers were trained by the investigators to
follow curved paths and natural rhythms instead of straight lines,
and an increase of thirty per cent output was obtained, far less
effort resulting.</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="center">- <a href="basicp05.html">Chapter Three</a> -</p></td>
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<td valign="top">
<a href="anprface.html">Preface</a><br />
<a href="anaboutg.html">About Gregg Shorthand</a><br />
<a href="aneditor.html">Editor's Note</a><br />
<a href="antwtbgr.html">A Talk with the Beginner</a><br />
<a href="analphbt.html"> The Alphabet</a><br />
Chapter I<br />
<a href="anunit01.html">Unit 1</a><br />
<a href="anunit02.html">Unit 2</a><br />
<a href="anunit03.html">Unit 3</a><br />
Chapter II<br />
<a href="anunit04.html">Unit 4</a><br />
<a href="anunit05.html">Unit 5</a><br />
<a href="anunit06.html">Unit 6</a><br />
Chapter III<br />
<a href="anunit07.html">Unit 7</a><br />
<a href="anunit08.html">Unit 8</a><br />
<a href="anunit09.html">Unit 9</a><br />
Chapter IV<br />
<a href="anunit10.html">Unit 10</a><br />
<a href="anunit11.html">Unit 11</a><br />
<a href="anunit12.html">Unit 12</a><br />
Chapter V<br />
<a href="anunit13.html">Unit 13</a><br />
<a href="anunit14.html">Unit 14</a><br />
<a href="anunit15.html">Unit 15</a><br />
Chapter VI<br />
<a href="anunit16.html">Unit 16</a><br />
<a href="anunit17.html">Unit 17</a><br />
<a href="anunit18.html">Unit 18</a><br />
Chapter VII<br /> <a href="anunit19.html">Unit 19</a><br /> <a href="anunit20.html">Unit 20</a><br /> <a href="anunit21.html">Unit 21</a><br /> Chapter VIII<br />
<a href="anunit22.html">Unit 22</a><br />
<a href="anunit23.html">Unit 23</a><br />
<a href="anunit24.html">Unit 24</a><br />
Chapter IX<br />
<a href="anunit25.html">Unit 25</a><br />
<a href="anunit26.html">Unit 26</a><br />
<a href="anunit27.html">Unit 27</a><br />
Chapter X<br />
<a href="anunit28.html">Unit 28</a><br />
<a href="anunit29.html">Unit 29</a><br />
<a href="anunit30.html">Unit 30</a><br />
Chapter XI<br />
<a href="anunit31.html">Unit 31</a><br />
<a href="anunit32.html">Unit 32</a><br />
<a href="anunit33.html">Unit 33</a><br />
Chapter XII<br />
<a href="anunit34.html">Unit 34</a><br />
<a href="anunit35.html">Unit 35</a><br />
<a href="anunit36.html">Unit 36 </a>
<p><a href="anindex.html">Index</a></p>
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</div></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#CC3333">
<td height="6" colspan="3" valign="top"><div align="center" style="color: #FFFFFF">Design
Copyright © 2021
<!--#config timefmt="%Y" -->
<!--#echo var="DATE_LOCAL" -->
Andrew Owen. All Rights Reserved.</div></td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
<!-- InstanceEnd --></html>