BHB w. GOOD ENGINEERING LITERATURE What to Read and How to Write With Suggestive Information on Allied Topics By HARWOOD FROST M. Am. Soc. M. E., M. Soc. Prom. Eng. Educ. Author, "The Art of Roadmaking" Formerly Editor of "The Engineering Digest" and Manager, Engineering News Book Department "Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man" Bacon Published by the Author Distributing Sales Agents CHICAGO BOOK COMPANY 226 So. La Salle St., Chicago, 111. Cf THF UNIVERSITY OF GENERAL Copyright 1911 by HARWOOD FROST Entered at Stationer's Hall, London, E. C. 1911 All Rights Reserved Published April, 1911 PEEFACE Every book should have a Preface. It opens up the subject with the reader much as the state of the weather opens a conversation be- tween strangers. In the present case, the sub- ject the making, selecting, and reading of en- gineering literature is one on which, up to this time, there has been practically nothing in published form, excepting a few reprints of lectures and occasional periodical articles. A treatment of this important subject has been long needed, and I offer no apologies for the present attempt. But such a work is peculiarly open to criticism and in anticipation of such, I may say that I am already well aware of its many imperfections and faults, both of omis- sion and commission. The material itself is an elaboration of that given in addresses to engineering students in the early part of 1910, and its presentation in a printed book is the outgrowth of a request that this material be given in a more permanent and useful form than that of oral discourse. When the writing was commenced it was the intention to issue two or three pamphlets only ; but as the work progressed, the fact developed that while there is plenty of literature for the V. 219046 VI. - ENGINEEKING LITERATURE would-be writer of fiction and magazine stories, there is nothing, except as mentioned above, for the engineer-writer, and the more exten- sive book was therefore decided upon. No ef- fort has been made to give set rules for the study of English, Grammar, Rhetoric, or any other of the fundamentals of literature, nor to dictate methods as to how a thing must be done to be correctly done; the effort has been rather to outline principles and to point out their ap- plication in what might be termed "literary engineering. ' ' Every engineer is, sooner or later, called upon in the course of his professional duties, to do some form of literary work, when he finds that the ability to speak and write clearly and forc- ibly, to express his thoughts and understand- ings and to describe his works so that others will understand them, will prove one of the most valuable items in his mental equipment. This fact is, however, too little appreciated by the average student, or by the engineer during the earlier years of his work and as a result, we see many engineers painfully groping their way and struggling with the difficulties of com- position under conditions where success de- pends on their powers of persuasion or of mak- ing themselves clearly understood. To such practicing engineers, as well as to the student of engineering, it is hoped that PEEFACE VII. this book will offer a helping hand. Its pur- pose is fourfold: 1. To impress upon the reader the value and need of a command of good English in the practice of engineering, and to outline the ap- plication of the fundamentals of literary ex- pression to his own special line of work. 2. To indicate something of the standards of engineering literature and of the kind of material that is most valuable to the engineer ; to show how to collect, select, and arrange this information and prepare it for publication ; and to give in outline such information regarding the theory and practice of the publishing busi- ness as may assist the writer in the preparation and marketing of his literary works. 3. To aid the engineer in the selection and reading of his professional literature that he may use his time and money to the best ad- vantage. 4. To collect and preserve some of the in- formation given in the writings and addresses of technical men on this subject, which is worthy of preservation, but which is unknown and unattainable to the average student or en- gineer. In the use of these writings and addresses, I have been very free and while it would be almost impossible to give separate credit for each quotation or adaptation, in cases where VIII. ENGINEEEING LITERATURE much material has been used, I have given in- dividual credit, but besides this, special credit should be given to "Engineering News," from which I have made frequent quotations. I have also consulted encyclopedias and a few other works of a reliable kind, bearing on the general subject, and have used ma- terial therefrom as occasion demanded. Thanks are also due to Prof. J. M. Telleen, of the Case School of Applied Science, for his ex- amination of some of the earlier sections of the book and for many valuable suggestions in connection therewith. In conclusion, while I have derived much pleasure from the preparation of the present book, I realize its defects. It is my desire to improve it and to make it more useful by the experience and suggestions of engineers in practice as well as in teaching. No one man can cover the entire range of any subject in his own experience, therefore I would greatly ap- preciate any information that could be incor- porated in the work and add to its usefulness to the engineer and the student, for whom it is intended. H. F. Chicago^ 111., April 15, 1911. CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION. THE PURPOSE OF LITERA- TURE 1 Chapter I. LITERARY EXPRESSION 5 Need to the Engineer of Correct Literary Expression . . . What Correct Literary Ex- pression Involves. II. RHETORIC and GRAMMAR 17 General Definitions and Relations . . . Clas- sification . . . Figures of Speech . . . Appli- cation of Principles to Work of the Engineer. III. ORTHOGRAPHY AND PUNCTUATION . . 29 IV. WORDS AND PHRASES 36 Basis of Engineering Terminology . . . Choice of Technical Words . . . Use of Common Words V. INSPIRATION AND MOTIVE IN LITER- . ARY WORK 57 VI. ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS IN LITERA- TURE 60 VII. WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT 63 What kind of Information is Most Useful to the Engineer . . . Descriptive Articles . . . Engineering Problems . . . Construction De- tails ... Methods and Costs . . . Special Subjects. IX X CONTENTS Chapter Page VIII. COLLECTING AND ARRANGING MATER- IAL 82 Aids to Literary Work. IX. EXERCISING THE MEMORY 94 X. PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS FOR PUBLICATION 112 General Principles: Writing . . . Cancel- lations . . . Transpositions . . Capitals and Type Variations .... Punctuation .... Paragraphs and Sentences . . . Quotations . . . Footnotes . . Chapter and Section Titles . . . Illustrations . . . Abbreviations . . . Notes for Guidance of Printer. The Literary Features of a Book: Title . . . Preface . . . Text . . . Index. Specifications for Text-books. XI. "FIELD" AND "POLICY" OF TECHNICAL JOURNALS 141 Acceptance and Rejection of Articles . . . The Trade "Write-up" . . . Correspondence . . . Personals. Selection of Matter for Publication. XII. THE "WRITE-UP" ARTICLE .... 158 XIII. RIGHTS OF AN AUTHOR IN HIS WORKS 164 Literary Property . . . Copyright . . . Giving Credit for Drafts on the Literary Work of Others. XIV. COPYRIGHT 178 The Copyright Law: Nature and Extent of Copyright . . . What May be Copyrighted . . . Who May Obtain Copyright . . . How to Secure Copyright . . . Deposit of Copies of Work . . . Manufacturing Provisions . . . CONTENTS XI Chapter Page Affidavit of American Manufacture . . . Penalty for False Affidavit . . . Printing of Notice . . . Ad Interim Protection . . . Du- ration of Copyright . . . Protection Afforded and Penalties for Infringement , . . Assign- ment . . . Registration . . . Copyright Fees. Steps Necessary to Secure Copyright Registration. Application Forms. XV. RELATIONS BETWEEN AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER 203 Choosing a Publisher . . . The Literary Agent . . . Submission of Manuscript . . . Terms of Publication . . . Royalties . . . Form of Agreement. XVI. THE LAW OF LIBEL 221 XVII. PREPARATION OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOR REPRODUCTION 228 Wax-engraving Process . . . Photo-litho- graphy and Photo-engraving . . . Prepara- tion of Drawings . . . Half-tone process . . . Preparation of Photographs. XVIII. THE MAKING OF A BOOK 244 The Physical Side of Books: Papers . . . Inks . . . Bindings. Outline of Work of the Manufacturing Department. Dealing Direct with the Printer. Typography: What Types are Made of . . Sizes of Types . . . Type Measurement . . . Estimation of Space Occupied by Manuscript . . Type Faces . . Electrotypes . . Press-work. Proof-reading: Errors Most Frequent in Proofs . . . Marks Used in Correcting Proofs . . . Making up the Book, Rules for Make-up of Periodicals. XII CONTENTS Chapter Pago XIX. INDEXING AND FILING 290 The Card Index. Indexing of Technical Information: The Industrial Library Index . . . System for Both Field and Office Use ... Classification System for Library . . . Library of Congress Index Cards. Indexing and Filing Trade Publications: Classification . . . Filing . . . Variations in Size of Catalogues. Indexing Books and Periodicals: Rules to be Observed in Making Indexes . . . Making the Index. Dewey Decimal System of Classification: Explanation of the Dewey System . . . Use and Advantages of the Decimal Classification . . . Variations and Modifications. XX. LITERARY CRITICISM 340 Criticism of Books by Readers . . . The Book Review. XXI. THE ENGINEER'S LIBRARY .... 359 Extent of the Engineer's Library . . . Selection of Books and Periodicals. Government Publications and How to Obtain Them. Reading and Judgment of Engineering Literature: Periodicals . . . How to Read and Buy Books . . . Judgment of Books. XXII. LIST OF TECHNICAL INDEXES AP- PEARING SERIALLY 405 INDEX . . 407 INTRODUCTION THE PURPOSE OF LITERATURE. A certain writer has said that "The purpose of literature is to render our lives, that is, the individuality of each one of us, broader and deeper, through contact with the thoughts of great personalities in all departments of study." Certainly a man's life is influenced by the literature he reads very much as his char- acter is by the company he keeps. The non- reading man is usually an uncultured and un- educated man. The merely professional, or "one-book" man is a narrow man; worse than that, he is an artificial man, a creature of technicalities and specialties, removed equally from the broad truths of nature and from the healthy influences of human contact. In so- ciety, the most accomplished man of mere pro- fessional skill is often a nullity, whose talents have dominated his life to the exclusion of human sympathies and interests. The odor of the "shop" is always about him; he is like a merchant or a broker who can talk of noth- ing but leather or grain or stocks, or he may be a book-worm and smell mustily of books, as an inveterate smoker does of tobacco. The young man who has entered a field of professional work should endeavor to keep his mind open to the general interests of humanity, 2 ENGINEERING LITERATURE and instead of rushing into professional studies exclusively, should rather avoid the engross- ing influence of what is popularly called "shop." He will soon enough learn to know the cramping influence of purely professional occupation and studies, and if he insists on fixing his mind on these to the entire neglect of general culture, he should be told at once that no professional training, however com- plete, can teach a man the whole of his pro- fession; that the most exact professional drill will fail to teach him that most interesting and most important part of his business the part, namely, where the specialty of the profession comes directly into contact with the generality of human notions and human sympathies. Of this the profession of the law furnishes an ex- cellent and perhaps the best example, for while there is no art more technical, more artificial, and more removed from a fellow-feeling of humanity, than law in many of its branches, in others it marches out into the great arena of human rights and liberties, and deals with large questions, in the handling of which it is often of more consequence that the pleader should be a complete man than that he should be a legal expert. In the same way, medicine has as much to do with a knowledge of human nature as with the virtues of skilfully mixed drugs and the revelations of a technical diag- nosis. So, also, in the practice of the art, as PURPOSE OF LITERATURE 3 Tredgold defined it, "of directing the great sources of power in Nature for the use and convenience of man," the engineer is brought into contact with every advance in civilization, comfort, luxury, and safety of mankind. The life of the engineer is rendered "broader and deeper," through contact with the work and thoughts of his fellowman as reflected in the writings of men prominent in the various de- partments of study and of his own profession. "Literature" is a large subject, and it is not my intention, in the present small work, to delve too deeply into its mysteries. But what is "Literature"? Mere bookmaking is not lit- erature. Bibliography, fiction, history, are only so many branches of literature; books and periodicals are only two forms of literature; we speak of the "Literature of Engineering," or of Civil Engineering, or of Cement and Concrete, meaning the entire range of pub- lished information on these general or special- ized subjects. Thus, "Literature" may be said to be the record, in more or less permanent and readable form, of the results of human thought and activity, considered collectively. The lit- erature of his profession is the most valuable instrument at the command of the engineer, but in the present-day tendency towards specializa- tion and the strong individualizing of the sep- arate departments of the profession, there is always danger of a misuse of this instrument. 4 ENGINEERING LITERATURE If the engineer would not become too much a creature of technicalities and specialties; if he would not build around himself a high wall of exclusiveness, he must not, in his de- votion to any one branch of his profession, become careless and neglectful of the progress that is being made in the many other branches, as well as in the general affairs of the world. The successful engineers of today are most diligent consumers of literature. No matter how many years of practical experience he may have behind him, or to what degree of success he may have attained in his work, the success- ful man never seems to reach that point where he can afford to do without the aid and instruc- tion offered him through the medium of his books and periodicals. He realizes the need of this contact with the work and thoughts of his fellow men and his brother engineers; he knows that his success does not depend so much upon his own independent thought and work as upon the experience of others, which is recorded for his benefit in the literature of his profession. The importance of this litera- ture to everyone connected with engineering work practitioner, contractor, instructor, or student cannot be overestimated. It is abso- lutely essential to his success ; it keeps him out of the ruts, and is not only broadening and deepening, but a constant source of stimula- tion and inspiration. LITERARY EXPRESSION The professional engineer is naturally looked upon as an educated man. He is expected to be a man of good address, and conversant with the elements of grammar, spelling, and punctuation, but not necessarily om- niscient, or a master of the whole circle of the arts and sciences. There are some men, it is true, of recognized technical ability, who cannot, or do not, use ordinarily good gram- mar; who use the language of an uneducated laborer, and whose penmanship, spelling, and punctuation would hardly pass an elementary examination; but the fact that a few men of this type, uneducated, ignorant, or merely care- less, have risen to such positions and in some cases have attained fame and financial suc- cess, does not minimize the importance to the engineer of a command and use of correct Eng- lish. There is often displayed a tendency among engineering students to master the science of engineering while neglecting the humble details of good rhetorical and gram- matical usage, but while there may occasionally arise a genius whose activities are guided by a 5 6 ENGINEERING LITERATURE sort of divine inspiration rather than by the teachings of experience, the majority of engi- neers are ordinary mortals with commonplace talents, and ordinary methods must be used in their training. It cannot be too strongly im- pressed upon the engineer, and the young engi- neer especially, that deficiency in respect to the above-mentioned elements of education casts suspicion upon the entire range of his learning and upon the value of his professional opinion. I am inclined to think that the average engi- neering student considers the study of English one of minor importance, which should have been finished in his public school days ; that he lacks an appreciation of the purpose of his more advanced English studies and the necessity in his future professional work of correct literary expression. NEED TO THE ENGINEER OF CORRECT LITERARY EXPRESSION Literary expression, by which I mean the communication of thought by means of writ- ten or spoken language, constitutes a peculiar art. There are some more highly gifted than others with a facility of expression, but cor- rect literary expression is not among the arts that come by nature, and perfection cannot be acquired except by long and continual prac- tice. When learned, good English is just as easily used as bad English, and its use places LITERARY EXPRESSION 7 one on a high stand in the estimation of all educated people, and certainly does not lower one in the estimation of the uneducated. There are many advantages in being able to write and speak well. One of the tendencies of class-room study is to make the student ab- sorb a mass of facts by rote^ soon to be forgot- ten, rather than to assimilate the principles for further use. The preparing of composi- tions, essays, speeches, and debates makes him think over and review his mental stock-in- trade from time to time, and encourages him to add to this stock by reading, listening, ask- ing questions, and thinking. It also gives him active practice in putting his stock-in-trade to some use; otherwise the mass of materials might lie uncultivated, or might, at any rate, be difficult to utilize when needed. Further- more, the preparing of these literary produc- tions trains the student into the habit of go- / ing straight to the point, and in many ways/ it will be productive of a saving of time and exertion, which will go a long way towards professional success. It also forces the student to give definite shape to his ideas, which in turn cultivates the faculty of speaking well and readily and without nervousness when un- expectedly called upon. For, if he has to di- vide his attention between the collecting and arranging of ideas and their expression, he 8 ENGINEEEING LITERATURE must often express the ideas without shape, illogically, and ungrammatically. To the engineer this command of correct language is essential. The practice of correct writing is a necessity from the time he pens his first application for a job to the end of his pro- fessional career. It is necessary, not merely for the clear expression of his thoughts in corres- pondence, but for use in the many other forms of composition which he is continually called upon to write, such as reports, specifications, and contracts : technical articles and descrip- tions of his works for periodicals and engineer- ing societies, and sometimes the more elabor- ate productions, such as books and trade pub- lications. The practice of correct speech is necessary in ordinary conversation, in business interviews, in presenting views before commit- tees, in speaking to public bodies, and in argu- ing with boards of directors. Then also, the young engineer who goes out from one of our technical universities equipped with a wide knowledge of some particular branch of engi- neering may later be called upon, as an expert, to submit opinions and advice to public gather- ings and council-boards, both orally and in writing, where his ability to give clear and con- cise explanations of some engineering subject will be put to the most merciless test. Power lies in clearness and readiness in giving ex- pression to thoughts, and unless the engineer LITERARY EXPRESSION 9 is reasonably proficient in both writing and speaking, he will find himself in a difficulty in which no friend or book of rules can help him. Some features regarding "The Value of Eng- lish to the Technical Man" were clearly brought out in an address before the Techno- logical Society of Kansas City, by John Lyle Harrington*, an abstract of which may well be quoted in this connection : * * * The great majority of technical men occupy salaried positions in the organiza- tions of railways, governments, constructing companies, and manufacturing corporations. These positions are obtained by means of ac- quaintances made in a social way, by interview, by correspondence, or on account of an earned reputation. * * * One who is ignorant of the language finds social progress substantially impossible. This may seem a trivial matter, but it is not. Matters of very large importance are very often settled by favor, and favor fre- quently follows social position. Other things being equal, almost anyone will show his friend the preference in business or professional mat- ters. Social relations make largely for suc- cess or failure in the business or professional world. Many have received the opportunity which led to eminence through the recommen- dation of a casual acquaintance who was favor- ably impressed. In business correspondence the value of good usage is still more manifest than in con- versation. The art of letter writing, like a "Consulting Engineer, Kansas City. 10 ENGINEERING LITERATURE knowledge of grammar, is commonly consid- ered to be within the range of everyone 's learn- ing and skill; but anyone who has had large experience in business correspondence knows that few men write good letters. Many men owe the opportunity for advancement to their ability to write a good letter. The detrimental results of bad English in conversation or in correspondence are by no means so certain as in the more formal tech- nical papers. In the preparation of articles for the technical press, and papers for the learned societies, there is time to study form and style and to eliminate errors due to haste ; hence, when such matters are ill written, it is not unfairly argued that the writer is ignorant of the correct use of the language. The idea that a technical paper is dry at best, and that the English employed in it is of small conse- quence, has long been proved incorrect. There is so much nowadays that is well written that no busy professional man is willing to spare the extra time and effort necessary to read and digest an ill-written paper. A merchant may advertise his wares, a manufacturer his product, but reasonable mod- esty and his code of ethics prevent a profes- sional man from advertising his skill. If he does not become known by his work or his writings, he remains in comparative obscurity. His ability is clearly exposed in his writings, in which he gives to the profession his best thought; and if he cannot write easily and well he will probably not w r rite at all, for the censorship of the learned societies is now se- vere and is rapidly growing more so. Every normal, healthy-minded technical man desires LITEKAEY EXPRESSION 11 to leave a permanent record of the results of his best thought and work to aid his co-work- ers and those that come after him. An ably written description of work performed, dis- coveries made, or methods developed accom- plishes more for the advancement of science than many well designed and well executed constructions. The latter benefit those who see them; the former may help all who can read. Provoking and expensive errors often arise from the misunderstanding of badly expressed orders, rules, and regulations. In large cor- porations, especially in railway, contracting, and engineering companies where employees are distributed over a wide area, it is impos- sible for an officer to give individual instruc- tions, or to see personally that they are carried out; hence, general instructions must be so clear that they cannot be misunderstood or evaded. It is hardly necessary to say that the consequences of a mistake in train orders, in instructions regarding breaking track for re- pairs or renewals, or for making temporary constructions to span washouts, may result in expensive and fatal accidents. And even minor errors, oft repeated, may prove very costly. But the preparation of reports, specifica- tions, and contracts is the most particular and momentous task the technical man has to per- form. It is not enough to be careful in a general way. Every word, every phrase, every sentence, has a direct and vital bearing on the work governed by the documents. I have known the presence in the contract of a single word of equivocal meaning to cost one of the parties many thousands of dollars, though 12 ENGINEERING LITERATURE when the contract was drawn there was no question regarding the intent of the parties to it. Notwithstanding the vital importance of clear, concise, and full expression in such docu- ments, it is not uncommon to find specifications and contracts so bad in their construction that they fail utterly in their purpose * * * as a large number of engineers and architects compose their specifications by copying and combining sentences and paragraphs from various sources, instead of by writing them, from fundamental knowledge of the construc- tion desired. In such instances the client is protected infinitely more by the honesty, knowledge and skill of the contractor than by those of the architect. Very few railway specifications for com- plicated structures are so well written that a contractor cannot comply with them to the letter, yet give the company construction far inferior to what the writer of the specifications intended, thereby gaining for himself material advantage. The lawyers and the courts are kept busy rectifying the blunders of other professional men who do ill what they are paid to do well. I know of one contractor who has grown gray in the business of constructing buildings, who has never completed a contract without a law suit, and who has never lost a law suit. This speaks ill for the work of the architects under whom he worked, yet they are probably no worse than their fellows. If it were not good policy to be reasonably honest, many another contractor might easily approach his record. LITEKARY EXPRESSION 13 ^Literary expression should, therefore, be con- sidered as one of the most practical problems with which the engineer has to deal. It can be cultivated to a high degree of perfection by a judicious application of the principles gov- erning the elements of correct English com- position, as given in any good text-book of rhetoric and exemplified in the standard liter- ature of the language. WHAT CORRECT LITERARY EXPRESSION INVOLVES. Correct literary expression involves the study of many elements : selection and ar- rangement of ideas in accordance with the principles of unity, coherence, and emphasis; grammar, spelling, penmanship, and punctua- tion; words, sentences, paragraphs, and chap- ters; clearness, simplicity, variety, and inter- est. Much depends on the means of expres- sion, whether written or spoken; whether it is a letter, a detailed descriptive article, a the- oretical article, a summary, or a book ; a speech, a lecture, a debate, or ordinary conversation. The class of readers or hearers to whom the composition is addressed must be considered, also its purpose, and whether it will be read from written manuscript or from typewriting or from print, and even the style of writing, typewriting, or printing, needs careful con- sideration. It is manifestly impossible to give 14 ENGINEERING LITERATURE a thorough, treatment of these many and vari- ous elements in the limited space of this small book; most of them are matters of rhetoric and are taught in the schools and the college class-rooms. The present purpose is rather to point out the necessity of their individual un- derstanding by the student and the engineer, and their application to the literary work that every technical man must do. Listen to a first-class orator making an after- dinner speech which draws forth round after round of enthusiastic applause, and note his graceful opening, how he commands your at- tention, his easy style, his timely and forceful gestures, his clear emphasis, and his climax, when he takes his seat amid the ringing cheers of the company. It appears simple, but when you try to do it, you do something or leave something undone that reacts upon the entire speech, and you fail to arouse the enthusiasm of your audience, although your subject matter may be as interesting and as valuable as that of the previous speaker. You may have the ideas but lack the ability to tell others just what you mean ; you may have force in gesture, but lack the ability to emphasize properly by a pause, a comparison, or an appropriate story. The reason why many people fail in writing and speaking is not so much from the lack of ideas, of the use of bad English, as it is LITERARY EXPRESSION 15 that they try to do the whole thing at once without having mastered each single element. A gesture, like the movement of a baseball pitcher, or any other motion, consists of several parts, and each part must be mastered before the whole movement can be made perfectly; a good billiard stroke appears simple and grace- ful only because the expert has mastered the elements of that stroke the holding of the cue, the necessary force, the angles of the table, the "English"; an instructor in machine design does not ask his students to design a steam engine until they have mastered the various parts of which the engine is made up. The easy and forceful speaker has, by study and practice, acquired an art that conceals an art ; he has acquired the art of reasoning I while on his feet; he has considered the aims/ of his speech in connection with the character and mood of his hearers ; he has carefully col- lated and arranged his ideas; he has mastered the elements of style, gesture, and emphasis and applied them to this particular speech; he has studied his beginning and ending and his pauses ; and during his apparently informal talk he is exerting his powers of attention, concentration, and observation. The Romans had a motto, "Divide et impera," "Isolate and conquer," which, applied to the present case, may be rendered, "Isolate what you have to master and master it part by part," to which 16 ENGINEERING LITERATURE must be added the necessity of retaining pos- session of what has already been mastered be- fore advancing to new things that is the basis of all thorough learning. In "Literary Engi- neering" this principle applies equally to read- ing, writing, and speaking, and the engineer who knows how to read, write, and speak well has a possession not only of mere intellectual and social advantage, but also of dollars and cents value, in whatever branch of the profes- sion his work lies. II RHETORIC AND GRAMMAR Rhetoric is the art of composition, written I or spoken ; it aims at expounding the prin- ciples that should govern all prose composi- tions or speech that is designed to influence the judgment or feelings of a reader or hearer, and therefore treats of everything that relates to grace or force of style accuracy of ex- pression, structure of periods, and figures of speech. VCrrammar is the science which treats / of the principles of language and teaches the / correct use of words for the expression of thought ; it teaches us to speak, read, and write with correctness, according to the established usage, as deduced from language already in existence. "; (^Rhetoric has been given many and various definitions by writers, both ancient and modern Aristotle called it ''The art of persuasion"; Whatley, "The art of conviction"; Campbell, "The art of discourse" but all these writers agree on recognizing it as an art rather than as a science. An art implies underlying prin- ciples based on a science, and there has been, therefore, much question as to the science or 17 18 ENGINEERING LITERATURE sciences upon which rhetoric is founded. Some claim the basis as logic, others as esthetics, and others as ethics, but if rhetoric is founded upon any single science, it is undoubtedly logic, through the medium of grammar. Grammar investigates the relations between words and ideas, examines structure of speech in general, and treats of the essentials of the language. It receives the materials of thought formed into general notions, or concepts, judg- ments, and reasonings; expresses them with due regard to purity, propriety, concord, and precision, and turns them over to rhetoric to be woven into discourse with clearness, energy, elegance, and special adaptation to the ends that the writer or speaker has in view. Gram- mar deals with the words and the sentence only; rhetoric, with the words, sentence, para- graph the entire composition or discourse. Grammar teaches rules, and regards correct expression as an end in itself; rhetoric teaches principles, and regards expression as merely a means to an end. Grammar makes a dis- tinction between the right and the wrong; rhetoric between the good and the better. In both writing and speaking, single words would suffice to express detached, individual ideas a book could be indicated by the single word "book" but thought is made up of re- lated ideas, necessitating the combination of words into sentences, sentences into para- RHETORIC AND GRAMMAR 19 graphs, paragraphs into compositions. The selection of words and their arrangement into correct sentences and paragraphs, according to certain rules, is the province of grammar, but however correct the words and their arrange- ment may be ; they may still fail to express the thought and to attain the special end in view. The words must be united into sentences and the sentences into paragraphs and composi- tions, effectively this is the province of rhet- oric. "Effective expression" and the meaning commonly attributed to the word "rhetoric" are not, however, necessarily synonymous. A statement such as "Even his rhetoric failed to convince his hearers," is not uncommon, and implies a wrong meaning. It implies that the speaker was bombastic or tricky, and possessed the power of manipulating his words to de- ceive his hearers, which is the very reverse of the true teachings of rhetoric to express the meaning clearly and exactly. Classification of Rhetoric. As just men- tioned, rhetoric is an art, based on a science, but instead of regarding it as founded on any single science, most writers prefer to recognize three departments of rhetoric, corresponding to the three sciences mentioned above, and also to the three divisions which are ordinarily made of the human faculties, the intellect, the sensi- bilities, and the will. These departments are : 20 ENGINEERING LITERATURE II. Inventive Rhetoric, founded on Logic, which treats of discourse, and helps us attain exact knowledge. 2. Esthetic Rhetoric, founded on Esthetics, which treats of the "form" of dis- course, and helps us attain pleasure from conversation, reading, and writ- ing. 3. Ethical Rhetoric, founded on Ethics, which treats of the "purposes" of dis- course, and helps us attain the ends desired. The application of these principles and this classification of rhetoric to the purposes of the present work may be. outlined as follows : 1. Inventive Rhetoric: a. Choice of subject. b. Accumulation and selection of mate- rial. c. Arrangement and disposition of ma- terial. 2. Esthetic Rhetoric : Has reference to style, and the art of expressing clearly, energetically, and gracefully, the products of Inventive Rhetoric in adaptation to the ends of Ethi- cal Rhetoric. The elements of Style: Na- turalness, Adaptation, Clearness, Energy, etc., are discussed in any treatise on rhetoric. 3. Ethical Rhetoric : Has reference to purpose of discourse a. Instruction to develop in the mind a new knowledge. b. Conviction to lead the mind to adopt a certain opinion. RHETORIC AND GRAMMAR 21 c. Excitation to move the feelings and arouse interest. d. Persuasion to determine the will to action. It will require but slight consideration on the part of the reader to realize the practical application of this analysis to the work of an engineer or a salesman, and thereby to convince him of the necessity of an understanding of the principles of rhetoric and their value in his work. The salesman goes to a manufac- turer, for instance, with the aim of interesting him in a certain machine, to the ultimate end of making a sale. He has accumulated, se- lected, and arranged his facts for discussion and argument ; he presents these facts as clear- ly and as energetically as possible, and in the best style at his command; the order of his discourse is (a) instruction to explain his device, (b) conviction to make his prospec- tive customer agree to certain general conclu- sions, (c) excitation to arouse an interest in his device and a desire for it to the end of (d) inducing him to place the desired order per- suasion. Similarly, the man in almost any position in the engineering world can apply this analysis of rhetoric to his own special case, and will see from such an application, the dollars-and- cents value of a knowledge of rhetoric and the necessity for its careful study. 22 ENGINEERING LITERATURE Again, rhetoric may be classed as (1) Con- structive, and (2) Critical. Critical Rhetoric embraces the study of rhetorical principles and of literary models and finds its most com- mon example in the modern book review. Con- structive Rhetoric consists in the practical ap- plication of these principles and the imitation of literary models. The principles of rhetoric are not the arbitrary enactments of any man or body of men, but simple deductions from the experience and observations of generations of writers and speakers, and anyone who de- sires to write or .speak well, either in the rou- tine of work, or otherwise, should study and endeavor to apply these principles. There are three forms of discourse ordinarily recognized by rhetoric : 1. Ordinary representative discourse, in which the matter is presented for its own sake, without special purpose, or regard to form, and in which clearness, accuracy, and completeness are the prime essentials. Such discourse usually consists of: a. Descriptions of things and events, b. Narration of facts and fiction. c. Exposition of truths and things (ab- stract). 2. Poetry, in which the matter and the pur- pose are subordinate to the form. 3. Oratory, which proposes an end to be attained, to which the matter and form of discourse are merely auxiliary. RHETORIC AND GRAMMAR 23 The ancient writers classified Oratory as (a) Demonstrative, (b) Judicial, and (c) Delibera- tive, and some of the British writers class it as : a. The eloquence of popular assemblies. b. The eloquence of the bar. c. The eloquence of the pulpit, but it is generally recognized that if a classifi- cation is attempted at all, it should be on a basis of purpose rather than of the occasion of its exercise. An orator, or a speaker before a public gathering or a committee, or a sales- man, generally seeks to bring something to pass ; he does not appeal to the intellect or the feelings alone, but also to the will. He must sway the whole man, or he will fail in the ob- ject he has in view. It is especially necessary for him to study adaptation, and his discourse, while not deficient in clearness and not offen- sive to the tastes of his hearers, must excel in energy and emphasis. It will be seen, then, that for a man who uses speech and writing in his work, either as a salesman or in deal- ing with bodies of men, the chief elements to be mastered are: the discovery of proper ideas (see page 63), their selection and ar- rangement (see page 82), and the style in which they are expressed, which is the field of rhetoric, to which should also be added, the cultivation of a good memory (see page 94). Style, as stated, consists of various elements, but can always be promoted by the use of 24 ENGINEERING LITERATURE Figurative Language, or language which devi- ates from the plain and ordinary method of describing an object or of stating a fact. This tends to promote clearness by associating the objects or facts under discussion with more familiar objects or events; energy, by associ- ating the objects or facts with more exciting objects or facts; elegance, by associating the objects or facts with more pleasing objects or facts. "Figurative Language" may be di- vided into : Figures of Speech, which consist of a mere modification in the form of expression, and Figures of Thought, which involve an essen- tial modification of the conception, and these figures depend upon : The Principle of Similarity, The Principle of Dissimilarity, The Principle of Association. Among the more familiar Figures of Speech used for emphasis, are: 1. Alliteration the repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of successive words : "Apt alliteration's artful aid." 2. Paronomasia the use of words in the same connection which are similar in sound but dissimilar in meaning: "Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew." Shakespeare. 3. Meiosis (or Litotes) the representation of an object as less than it really is : EHETOEIC AND GRAMMAR 25 "The engineer is a member of no mean profession. ' ' 4. Pleonasm the use of more words to ex- press one's meaning than are strictly nec- essary an over- fullness of words in a com- position which should be sharply discrim- inated from Tautology, or the meaningless reiteration of a thought. 5. Hyperbole the representation of an ob- ject as larger than it really is, or statement of a fact more strongly than is consistent with its literal truth: "He ran like the wind." "An ele- phant on his hands." 6. Climax the gradual rising, by more and more emphatic statements, to the fullest and most expressive utterance of our thought : "I came, I saw, I conquered." Caesar. Under this head also, there are several fig- ures which are seldom referred to and which it would not serve any good purpose to dis- criminate between or to define in a book of this nature. Under "Figures of Thought" are, first, those founded on the principle of Similarity: 1. Simile, which is an expressed comparison usually introduced by "like" or "as." "Books, like proverbs, receive their chief value from the stamp and esteem of ages through which they have passed." Temple. 2. Metaphor, which is an implied compari- son, "Books, the children of the brain." 26 ENGINEERING LITERATURE Similes are more conducive to clearness, metaphors to energy. Either may be made conducive to elegance. The metaphor may be tested by reducing it to an equation, thus, "The ship plows through the sea 5 * the ship is to the sea as the plow is to the land. Any metaphor which will not submit to this test is radically defective, introducing more than four terms or suggesting an unreal similarity. The mixing of metaphors is one of the commonest faults of the bombastic speaker. Any metaphor can be converted into a simile, as for instance, the abpve example may be changed to read: " Books are like children." 3. The Allegory, which is an extended meta- phor, and of which Bunyan's li Pilgrim's Prog- ress" is probably the best example. 4. The Fable, which is essentially similar to the allegory, but briefer, and characterized by the free endowment of animals, and even of inanimate objects, with the attributes of rea- son and speech. Of this, the Fables of Aesop form a good example. 5. The Parable, which is a religious alle- gory. 6. Personification, which regards things in- animate as if they had life: "The pyramids, doting with age, have forgotten the names of their founders. ' ' The danger in the use of personification is that mere sex, and not qualities of life, be given to the object. RHETORIC AND GRAMMAR 27 Under this head, also, are other figures, which it is not in the province of this book to discuss or define. Under " Figures of Thought" that are founded on Dissimilarity, are: Contrast, An- tithesis, and Irony. Founded on the principle of Association is Metonomy, the transference of names, such as : The cause for the effect. The container for the thing contained The sign for the thing signified The instrument for the agent The author for his works Under the combined heads of Similarity and Dissimilarity is : Synecdoche, which includes objects that are similar in kind, but dissimilar in extent or de- gree. By^Svnecdoche. we put a part for the whole, as "sail" for "ship," or a "blade" for a "sword." More specifically it consists of the substitution of: The concrete for the abstract The species for the genus The individual for the species The material for the thing made Its use is highly conducive to energy. It falls within the province of rhetoric to discrim- inate accurately between these figures of speech and to give principles which shall facilitate their effective use. In regard to the use of grammar in ordinary technical statements, the following are a few of 28 ENGINEERING LITERATURE a number of examples cited by Prof. T. J. John- ston in a paper before the Society for the Pro- motion of Engineering Education, as having actually come under his observation within a very short period: "Generator dissembled." "More customers, cheaper the cost of production." "Formerly the slag of steel works was considered purely a dead waste, but some few years ago its valu- able fertilizing value was discovered, and now this formerly valueless waste is one of the world's most valuable fertilizers." "A body like you propose." "This operation is to be operated at every station." "In a shaft eight thousand feet deep, the cost of cooling the temperature would be considerable." "There is no reversing plugs." "For which the unenviable distinction of being the worst in the world is often claimed for it." "To this was added two . . . generators." "Gas-engine would develop along the same lines the steam-engine had done." "The correctness of my conclusions have been am- ply demonstrated." "An almost infinitesimal amount." "The rings . . . are circular in shape." "The car is well lit" "The cost of superimposing a floor on the present system would cost as much as the original cost of building the present system." "The company find it impossible to buy only at re- tail prices." "Which renders great economy and rapid construc- tion." "A fewer number will perform a given amount of work four times as long as any other cell of equal size." Ill ORTHOGKAPHY AND PUNCTUATION Orthography is that branch of grammar which treats of the elementary sounds of a language, how to represent them by letters or symbols, and the combinations of these letters or symbols to represent words ; it includes also the right dividing of words into syllables (as when a word has to be divided at the end of a line), and is directly related to punctuation. In its more restricted and more general un- derstanding, orthography is synonymous with the art of correct spelling. This is probably the most unsatisfactory branch of our gram- mar. The orthography of the English lan- guage is a combination of the phonetic and etymological principles, resulting from the transference of words in whole or in part, from other languages, and the gradual changes and combinations that such words have undergone at the caprice of generations of writers. Hence, in the English language, as now spoken } and written, there is in general so imperfect / a correspondence between the sound of a word / and the sounds of the several letters written ' 29 30 ENGINEERING LITERATURE to represent it, that the spelling of almost each individual word has to be learned by itself. This fact has given rise, during the past few years, to a movement in favor of the simplifi- cation of spelling; some enthusiasts desiring to drop all silent, and, as they say, redundant letters, while others more conservatively call only for a simplification and standardization of certain classes of .words. The National Edu- cational Association has adopted simplified forms for the following twelve words only : altho pedagog thoro catalog program thorofare decalog prolog thru demagog tho thruout As the tendency in the direction of simplified spelling is growing among periodical publish- ers, a writer for the press would do well to ascertain, whenever possible, the feelings in this respect, held by the editors and publishers to whom he may desire to submit manuscripts. The majority of publishers have established sets of rules governing typography, orthogra- phy, etc., for the use of their writers, and in some cases these rules, in printed form, may be had by contributors to these publications.* The leading advocate of simplified spelling among the American authorities is probably * Such a set of rules is given on page 289. ORTHOGRAPHY 31 the "Standard Dictionary,"* in which the editor says: *' ' In its effort to help in simplifying the spell- ing of words, this dictionary is conservative, and yet aggressively positive along the lines of reform agreed upon almost unanimously by the leading philologists." The policy thus briefly outlined has made the "Standard Dictionary" the standard in many offices and it may always be followed as a safe and reliable guide in all matters pertain- ing to correct spelling. The "leading philologists" referred to are no doubt the members of such associations as the American Philological Association, the Spelling Reform Association, and the Philolog- ical Society of England. These are the fore- most bodies interested in the development of simplified spelling, and their recommendations, while not as yet generally adopted by publish- ers, tend toward a simpler, more logical, and more uniform style of orthography, resulting in a great saving of time in writing. The fol- lowing general rules have been recommended for the use of those who are in sympathy with this movement: Rule 1. (1) Change final "ed" to "t" when so pronounced, as in abashed (abasht), wished (wisht), etc., and, if a double consonant pre- cedes, drop one of the consonants, as in chipped (chipt), dressed (drest), hopped (hopt), etc. *Published by Funk and Wagnalls, New York. 32 ENGINEERING LITERATURE (2) Retain final "ed" when the "e" affects a preceding sound: (a) When the preceding vowel sound is long and expressed by a single letter, as the fol- lowing : Baked, not bakt, as bakt would be pro- nounced as backed. caked, not cakt craped, not crapt draped, not drapt gaped, not gapt chafed, not chaft coped, not copt moped, not mopt roped, not ropt N. B. The ' * e " does not affect the preceding vowel sound when expressed by two or more letters, as in booked (bookt), bleached (bleacht), crouched (croucht). (b) When a preceding "c" has the sound of "s," as in chanced (not chanct), forced (not forct), faced (not fact), etc. Rule 2. (1) Drop "ue" at the end of words when the preceding vowel is short or a diph- thong, as in dialogue, catalogue, etc. Thus, spell dialog, catalog, etc. (2) Retain "ue" when the preceding single vowel is long, as in prorogue, vogue, plague, vague, fatigue, etc. Rule 3. (1) Drop final "e" from words end- ing in "ite" when the "i" is short, as hypo- crit, opposit, requisit, etc. (2) Retain final "e" when the "i" is long, as in finite, polite, unite, etc. Rule 4. Drop final "te" in words like ciga- rette, coquette, quartette, etc. Thus, spell ciga- ORTHOGRAPHY 33 ret, coquet, quartet, and all words of the same class which are Anglicized. Rule 5. (1) Drop final "me" in words like programme, and spell program. (2) Retain final "me" in written medical prescriptions, where the form gram might be mistaken for grain, and cause serious error. Rule 6. ( 1 ) Drop final " e " from words end- ing in "ile" when the "i" is short, as in fragilfe, ductil(e, etc. (2) Retain final "e" when the "i" is long, as in gentile, exile, etc. Rule 7. (1) Drop final "e" from words end- ing in "ine" when the "i" is short, as in dis- ciplin(e, doctrin(e, feminin(e, etc. (2) Retain final "e" when the "i" is long, as in sunshine, machine, etc. Rule 8. (1) Drop final "e" from words end- ing in "ise" when the "i" is short, as in prem- is(e, treatis(e, etc. (2) Retain final "e" when the "i" is long, as in wise, etc. Rule 9. Drop "a" from "ea" having the short sound of "e," as in feather, leather, etc. Rule 10. (1) Drop final "e" from words ending in "ve" when the preceding vowel has its common short sound, as in repulsiv(e, talk- ativ(e, etc., or is expressed by two letters, as in griev(e, groov(e, etc., the "r" counting with the vowels. (2) Retain final "e" when the preceding vowel is single or long, as in five, drive, etc. Rule 11. Change the diagraph " ph "^ to " f " wherever it has the sound of "f," as in diph- theria (diftheria), telegraph (telegraf), photo_- graph (photograf), naphtha (naftha), etc . 34 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE There have also been rules for the uniform spelling of chemical terms formulated and adopted by the Section of Chemistry of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and of geographic names, by the per- manent Board on Geographic Names*. The forms recommended by both of these bodies have been adopted by the editor of the Stand- ard Dictionary. Punctuation, which is sometimes considered as coming under the head of Orthography, is, in its broadest sense, the art of dividing lit- erary compositions by points or stops to show more clearly the sense, and the relation of the words. If a sentence consisted of a simple statement only, with just sufficient words to express a single idea, the only mark of punc- tuation needed would be a period at the end. But when the statement is compounded and complicated by modifiers and conditions, there arises the necessity for some sort of device that will clearly indicate the divisions and the rela- tionship of the different parts. Such a need is supplied by the various marks of punctuation. Their proper use is partly a matter of custom and partly just common sense. Custom should be observed, if only to prevent the appearance of eccentricity on the part of the writer. It is not in the province of this book to give detailed * The report of this board, containing a complete list of these spellings, can be obtained at a small cost from the Public Printer, Washington, D. C. PUNCTUATION 35 rules for the use of the various marks of punc- tuation the comma, semicolon, colon, period, etc. These details can be found in any work of grammar and in many other books, and it should only be necessary here to say that great care should be exercised in their use. Their proper use enables the writer to make his meaning clear; their omission or misuse even of a comma may render a sentence obscure and ambiguous. For instance, in the discussion of a certain accident: "The engineer^ said, the contractor, * was a man not to be depended upon." Here the contractor is certainly the guilty party, but by the insertion of two commas, the tables are turned against the engineer: "The engineer, said the contractor, was a man not to be depended upon." The engineer who is called upon to write reports, contracts, and specifications may, as -has often been the case, by a misplaced mark, involve himself in a lawsuit. In literary work, such as books and periodical articles, if errors are made in a contribution otherwise acceptable, the editor will correct them, according to his prescribed policy, but this revision should properly be done by the writer. A badly punc- tuated, badly spelled, and badly written com- position always stands less chance of accept- ance than one containing even less valuable matter, but carefully prepared for an editor's examination. IV WORDS AND PHRASES Words single parts of speech, or combina- tions of sounds, expressing ideas and Phrases two or more words forming particular modes of speech, or Idioms, and as a unit, expressing a single idea are among the most potent in- struments at the command of man, and of the writer in particular. By their proper use the engineer makes clear his meaning to clients and contractors, convincing one of the wisdom of his propositions and binding the other to exe- cute them. Through the improper or careless use of words, the engineer lessens his chances of making himself understood by clients and contractors, and provides loopholes for the lat- ter to evade their obligations, and may even bring ultimate confusion upon himself. If these statements are true of words and phrases in general, how much more true are they when applied to specialized technical terms ! There is unquestionably much carelessness displayed by engineers and engineering writers in their use of terms to designate specific en- gineering ideas. So many lawsuits have cen- tered around the meaning of some technical, or even non-technical word, that they now 36 WORDS AND PHRASES 37 excite no particular interest, and we are likely to skim over the abstracts of such cases with little thought that our own use of words is seldom commendable for its perfect absence of ambiguity. We speak of "dirt roads" when we mean "earth roads," and see no danger signal in our perversion of the word "dirt"; we also speak of the 4 ' inauguration of a plant ' ' when we mean the "installation of a plant." In a word, we unconsciously use metaphorical, inaccurate, and involved expressions so fre- quently that we are ever in danger of being vague when we w r ish to be precise. In most cases, it is true, the context is such as to pre- vent any misunderstanding as to the idea in- tended; but this is only scant justification for the careless use of words, for the reader must then gather from several words or sentences the idea which should have been conveyed by a single term. The Basis of Engineering Terminology. A misspelled or wrongly interpreted word may result in serious consequences, even in a death, and partly for this reason, and partly on ac- count of the unchanging nature of matters pertaining to medicine and surgery, med- ical terms have been standardized. These usu- ally apply to certain scientific facts, and have been given Latin names which convey the same understanding to medical men in all parts of the country, regardless of localisms. But in 38 ENGINEERING LITERATURE order to use and understand engineering terms correctly, the establishment of a precise code of such terms, to be followed in all engineering writings, is not necessary. In fact, the method of the development of engineering terminology and its status at any one time does not permit of this. The objects and phenomena with which engineers deal are in most cases not specialized scientific facts, to be given Latin names and discussed in abstruse language ; rather they are things with which men in gen- eral are more or less familiar, and to which, in many cases, they have already given names. When the engineer comes to deal with them, he generally takes over the word that is al- ready in the language, but he may later extend its meaning to cover analogous ideas, or he may restrict it to a specialized phase of the original idea, to suit his needs. When the word in its final meaning thus developed comes into general acceptance among engi- neers, it forms part of recognized engineering terminology. There are always many terms still in progress of formation or development; different writers use them differently, and they usually also have an established meaning in our general vocabulary, but it is desirable that the technical use of the word should follow as closely as possible its more general use ; the modification of its meaning for technical pur- poses must be arrived at gradually. WORDS AND PHRASES 39 It is important to note also that a definite technical term may have varying meanings when applied to different cases. Thus, the "foundation" for a column is generally a mass of stone, concrete, etc., upon which the column rests by means of a base or shoe; but the masonry "foundation" may, in its turn, be supported upon an artificial "foundation," or on piling, or on a caisson. The ultimate "foundation" upon which the caisson rests is the hardpan or rock upon which it is designed to rest its load. The word "foundation" is a generic, rather than a particular term, and functionally, it will correctly apply to each of the above cases. New words are often coined to meet the dif- ficulties of technical phraseology, just as man's material needs are met by new contrivances, but it is not always advisable to coin particular words for each of the separate ideas to which any one word may be applied.* At least the necessity for a specific name in any one case must become clearly apparent before seeking for that name. The deliberate creating of spe- cific engineering terms is, as will be evident, not an easy matter, and in most cases it would prove not only thankless but also valueless. * Julius Caesar, who was an authority on words as well as on war, says in his work on "Analogy:" "Avoid every unusual word as a rock." This may be open to a too general or ambiguous interpretation, but serves as a warning against the too promiscuous coinage of unusual words. 40 ENGINEERING LITEEATURE What each writer of engineering can do, how- ever, is to specify his meaning clearly in every case, instead of carelessly using such a word as "foundation" with its different meanings in successive sentences. The Choice of Technical Words. In the choice of words the chief object of the en- gineer should be to make himself clearly understood, not in New York or San Fran- cisco alone, but by the capitalist, manufac- turer, contractor, or their engineering repre- sentatives, in any city of the land, and pos- sibly in other countries as well. If, then, the engineer can find a word ready at his hand which is in common use and of unmistakable meaning, he will generally do better to adopt it than to try to introduce some other word which may be more correct from the etymo- logical viewpoint. But where a word is in use, even if quite generally, which has been badly perverted from its original and proper mean- ing, and which, in the absence of qualifying or explanatory notes, might actually mislead, then an attempt might well be made to put down such a use for that word and to substi- tute one whose meaning is unmistakable. An excellent example of the serious conse- quences that may follow the careless use of words is given in Wait's "Engineering and Architectural Jurisprudence (page 526), where the indiscriminate use of the words "road" WORDS AND PHRASES 41 and ''track" in a set of specifications led to a lawsuit under a contract to build a road be- tween certain termini at a specific price per mile. This gave rise to a dispute as to whether the mile of track or the mile of roadbed was meant to be specified, and offers an instance of confusion arising from the indiscriminatiug use of two common words. In fact, it is these common words that give the most trouble. What is a "road"? Until we come to define it we are sure that we know exactly what a road is. Eichard Grant White in his book on "Words and Their Uses," takes up the mean- ing of the words "railway" and "railroad," and argues that a "road" is a term properly applied to a roadbed, or to all that area set aside for road uses. In that sense, all the "right of way" would be the "road," whether of a wagon road or a railroad. The word "way," on the other hand, is a narrower term, and applies to the ways or guides that support the moving body. The "ways" that a ship slides down, a "tramway," a "railway" these are rightly termed "ways" and not "roads." It may not be difficult to find objec- tions to this argument in the use of the term "railway," but at present we are not so much concerned with the question of preference as with the habit of using words with the same precision that we use symbols in an equation. An example of the extent to which the mis- 42 ENGINEERING LITERATURE use of technical terms becomes rooted and grounded in engineering literature, was offered in the repeated substitution for ''watershed," of "drainage area" or "catchment area" in a report of the Commission for Additional Water Supply for New York City, prepared a few years ago by several prominent engineers. In commenting on this at the time, "Engineer- ing News" said that of the technical words in common use by engineers, few have been ex- tended further from their original meaning, and at the same time kept in close relation to it, than "watershed." This word is often used to denote a catchment or drainage area, while its real meaning, as given in the ' ' Century Dic- tionary," is as follows: Watershed : The edge of a river basin ; the line separating the waters flowing into two dif- ferent rivers or river basins * * * some- times called the water parting, and in the United States, more frequently and popularly, the divide. The "Century" also quotes the following discussion of the term from J. D. Whitney's "Names and Places": The summit of the pass is called the divide or watershed. In this last word the "shed" has not the present meaning, but an obso- lescent one of "part" or "divide." Skeat says: "The old sense of 'to part' is nearly obsolete, except in 'watershed,' the ridge which parts river systems." The ' ' watershed ' ' of any river basin limits its ' ' area WORDS A1STD PHRASES 43 of catchment," as the hydraulic engineers call it. Now and then an engineer writes "catch- ment area," or ''drainage area," instead of " watershed. " The dictionary already quoted inserts under the main title "area," the fol- lowing : Area of Catchment: Among hydraulic en- gineers, the area, the rainfall or drainage of which is to be made available for furnishing water at a desired point. Catchment-basin: Same as Drainage-basin. And again, one of the meanings of "Basin" is given as follows : Basin: In geography, (a) the area drained by a river. The term is ordinarily used only when speaking of a large river, and then in- cudes the entire area drained by the main stream and its tributaries. The line separating two river systems from each other is the water- shed. Thus these various quotations clearly point out that a "watershed" is a line and not an area. As between "catchment area" and "drainage area," doubtless the latter term is more commonly used in America ; but in con- sidering available sources for public water supply in such a way as to include both rain- fall and area, "catchment" is particularly ex- pressive of the exact thing in mind. "Drain- age area" is likewise notably appropriate when one is considering the extent of territory drained by a stream or by a sewerage system. 44 ENGINEEEING LITERATURE A well-known engineer some time ago raised an objection to the use of the term "Census of Street Traffic," urging that "Travel" should be substituted for "Traffic"; that "Traffic" means goods and merchandise, and should not be applied to the number of horses and ve- hicles used for their transportation. While this may appear quite reasonable, reference to two reliable American dictionaries shows that the word "Traffic" is correctly used. From the "Century Dictionary": Traffic. 1. An interchange of goods, etc. 2. The coming or going of persons or the transportation of goods along a line of travel, as on a road, railway, canal, or steamship route. (Example) "Traffic during that 36 hours was entirely suspended." 3. The persons or goods collectively passed or carried along a route or routes. Travel. 6. The passage or concourse of travelers; persons traveling; as, "The travel was very heavy on outgoing trains and boats. (Colloq.) From the ' ' Standard Dictionary ' ' : Traffic. The exchange of goods, etc. 2. The business of transportation, as of per- sons, animals, or goods; as railroad or canal traffic. 3. The subjects of transportation, collect- ively; the persons, animals, or goods carried. Travel. 4. (Colloq.) The movement or con- course of travelers; as, the June travel to Europe WORDS AND PHEASES 45 The foregoing quotations show that " Street Traffic" may correctly be used to indicate either persons or goods passing along a street, and hence, by inference, to denote passing horses and vehicles. Both authorities class the use of "Travel," when applied to those travel- ing, as colloquial. The engineer referred to, however, maintained that, in spite of the dic- tionary definitions, there is no sufficient rea- son for not adopting a more exact and satisfac- tory word to describe, in a technical sense, the action referred to, as the meaning of technical terms and the nomenclature of engineering, accepted by the profession, is not always in accord with the definitions in the dictionaries, whose function it is to define rather than to dictate. It is a well recognized fact that the engineering profession has been more careless than any other in the adoption and use of accurate technical terms, but as already stated, the method of the development of engineering terms does not permit of a clearly defined, ac- curate, and scientific system of nomenclature. This lack of precision is also well exempli- fied in the terms used in the drafting room. The designs for a building are collectively called " plans," but in another sense, only the horizontal projections are "plans." Some draftsmen make "front views" and others make "front elevations"; some prepare 46 . ENGINEERING LITERATURE "plats" while others get up "plots" though innocent of any attempt at intrigue. A type of expression that has sometimes been questioned, is the use of the singular or plural in such terms as a "ten hour's journey" or a "50-foot span." These are idioms of the language, based on euphony, that have been used by the best writers probably for cen- turies, and they must be recognized as such. Any person who says a "50-feet span" violates the idiom of the language for the sake of a rather far-fetched purism, and if he should submit a manuscript to a periodical, contain- ing this expression, the editor would, before printing it, change "feet" to "foot," just as he would correct an obvious error in grammar or spelling. Further, in this usage, "foot" must be considered as an adjective, and as such has no plural form. One of the most familiar cases of confusion of nomenclature is one that has arisen during the past few years with the development of the use of the combination of concrete and steel, generally known as "reinforced concrete," or "concrete-steel." In translations of articles from foreign publications, however, the Eng- lish language has been seriously strained, and we have "armed cement," "armed concrete," "ferro-concrete," and various other misappli- cations, reaching the climax in the comments in one of the technical journals on the need of WOKDS AND PHEASES 47 ''more vigorous safeguarding of the quality of the cement and the entrained steel." It is recognized that phraseology is but a matter of custom, subject to change at the hands of various authorities, but a question arose some years ago regarding the right of a former publication committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers to rule out the use of the word "lineal" and substitute ''linear" in such expressions as lineal inch, foot, etc. In the slight controversy that followed, one writer stated his opinion that in connection with units of measurement, "lineal" should be retained as being an older and better form. Another writer made the distinction of using the two terms of applying the word "linear" to determine dimensions in straight lines, for instance, a horizontal plane, as from center to center of bridge towers; whereas "lineal" is one of more inclusive scope as referring to the dimensions taken along the cables of the road- way, or the sinuous contour of a pipe line. This view of the case appears to be justified by the "Century Dictionary," also by comparison with such relative terms as "radius," implying a fixed dimension, versus "radial" a general reference to a line or lines projected from a center towards a circumference; and in the same sense, the terms "diameter" and "di- ametral"; the latter being well established 48 ENGINEERING LITERATURE in designating the gear system, "diametral pitch." Another usage that has been discussed con- cerns the use of the word "lacing" to replace "double latticing," which has been considered by some engineers as unwarranted. "Lacing" is defined as "a fastening with a string or cord through eyelet holes" "a cord used in draw- ing tight or fastening." A "lattice" is "any sort of wood or iron, made by crossing laths, bars, or rods, and forming a network." As bridge parts are "latticed" together to obtain greater rigidity, it seems wrong to call it "lac- ing," and that "single and double latticing" covers all the needs. Many other examples are available to show the differences of opinion regarding the mean- ings of certain technical terms, and the investi- gation and study, whenever possible, of such analyses would tend toward a more correct employment of terms not thoroughly under- stood. The use of a technical term in a book written by a recognized authority becomes the basis of correct usage, and subsequent writers will follow, like a flock of sheep, the diction of this master mind. It has been demonstrated by many examples that this staying power of the language and usage resists the attacks of time and that the corruption of a word will outlive its originator and perhaps many suc- ceeding generations. WORDS AND PHRASES 49 The Use of Common Words. What has been said above as to the choice of words refers especially to technical terms, but the engineer writing for the press or writing reports and specifications must also give careful attention to the use of the more common words and phrases. What can better express the necessity of this than the following advice, given to con- tributors to "Engineering News"? Make It Short. "Aspirants for journalistic honors should religiously eschew polysyllabic orthography. The philosophical and philological substruc- ture of this principle is ineluctable. Exces- sively attenuated verbal symbols inevitably in- duce unnecessary complexity and consequently exaggerate the obfuscation of the mentality of the peruser. Conversely, expressions which are reduced to the furthermost minimum of simplification and compactness, besides con- tributing realistic verisimilitude, constitute a much less onerous handicap to the reader's perspicacity. "Observe, for instance, the unmistakable and inescapable expressiveness of onomatopo- etic, inter jectional, monosyllabic utterances, especially when motivated under strenuous emotional circumstances. How much more ap- pealing is their euphonious pulchritude than the preposterous and pretentious pomposity of elongated verbiage." "Fine writing" is a fault it is used in newspapers, sometimes for the sake of elabo- 50 ENGINEERING LITERATUEE rating on details, or, in other words, to fill space, as in the following example, which ap- peared in a Texas newspaper: A bright sun and a pleasant afternoon seemed to halo the happy occasion, and its refulgence to fore- cast the happiness of a union of two young hearts that hau been devoted from youth and young girl- hood through the years to the full maturity of young manhood and womanhood, and at last so auspiciously brought together under the holy sanction of God's ordinance to beat as one. On the very threshold of their lives they start to- gether along the journey of existence, hand in hand, heart to heart, full of that hope and that joy which aureoles the vistas that stretch out before them and gives promise of so much of that brightness that pleases and gives zest to life. After the ceremony which made them one, a wed- ding dinner awaited them, and in that feast of good things they read an earnest, it is hoped, of the largess fate with kindly hand, has in store for them through- out all their years to come, and with the blessings of those they love and who love them. It is the sincere hope of all their many friends that no shadow may ever fall upon their lives and only fragrant flowers bloom along their pathway. Often, also, in newspapers, the employment of circumlocutory or vague expressions are used to tell of a death or to hide a disagree- able or vulgar fact, as in the following exam- ple, from an English paper: We are being constantly reminded of the certain, and it may be sudden, visit of "the angel with the amaranthine wreath," and it is our painful duty to- day to chronicle the melancholy fact that one who has played his part, and played it well in life, has passed through nature to eternity. In oratorical diction, an elegant "flow of language " is used for its impressive effect on the audience. But "beating around the bush"; WOEDS AND PHRASES 51 elegance and copiousness of diction; the use of superfluous words and details redundancy, tautology, verbosity, etc. have no place in technical writing. Yet superfluous matter in manuscripts is one of the greatest troubles editors have to contend with, and even in specifications, in the preparation of which con- ciseness is second only to clearness, superflu- ous clauses are by no means uncommon, as, for instance, in the following clause taken from a printed set of specifications: It is expressly specified that in entering into the agreement to perform the work herein specified, the contractor admits that he has read each and every clause of these specifica- tions and the circular of instructions, fully understands the meaning of the same, and that he will comply with all the requirements herein set forth. Here 50 words have been used to say what ? Merely that the contractor who has signed the contract has read its requirements an as- sumption that is implied by the act of signing the contract. The clause is wholly superflu- ous on that account, but leaving aside any such legal considerations, consider only the wording of the clause. There is no need of saying that anything is "expressly" specified in a specifi- cation. Everything in a specification is "spec- ified" and nothing is any more "expressly specified" than anything else. The words "in entering into this agreement to perform the 52 ENGINEEEING LITEBATUEE work herein specified," add nothing to the clearness or scope of the clause, for the speci- fication certainly relates to no work outside the work " herein specified." Again, "the con- tractor admits that he * * * fully under- stands the meaning of the same. ' ' Aside from the fact that it is hard to understand how a man can "admit" that he understands, it is unnecessary for the contractor to say so, as his signature "admits" that. Finally, "he will comply with all the requirements herein set forth." Of course he will. What are the specifications and contracts for if not to insure compliance with their requirements? And being so, there is not the slightest need of using even ten words to state the fact. At the same time, while the use of common, plain words is advisable, discrimination must be shown in their use. The dictionaries con- tain more than 100,000 w T ords and the average man knows only about 3,000. The writer with a slim vocabulary repeats words too often, fre- quently within a few lines. This not only makes monotonous reading, but also makes the reader feel the narrowness of the writer's vo- cabulary, which in turn implies narrowness of thought. For purposes of our mere existence, a few hundred words would serve us; few ideas are necessary for mere existence, and generally speaking a man of few ideas has few words WORDS AND PHRASES 53 at his command. A man who has 1,000 words for expressing his wants, feelings, and ob- servations has fewer wants than a man who has at command 2,000 words. That most of us feel this need of words is well indicated by the frequent use of such expressions as: ''You know what I mean"; "I can't think of just the word I want"; "I had that word on the end of my tongue"; "The right word will come to me in a minute," etc. Sometimes it comes but oftener it does not. Not only must the w r riter have a wide range of choice, but also the reader must have a sufficient number of words at command to get the thoughts of the writers he reads. Two cases of evident lack of proper words to ex- press the exact meaning were shown in two specifications sent to a periodical, one of which spoke of "demoralized rock" and the other of "wholesome earth." The editor suggested that contractors might have to attend courses on Ethics and Dietetics, in one to learn to know whether he is associating with reputable stone or not; and in the other to be taught to distinguish palatable from unpalatable soil. It seems hardly necessary, then, to say that every one should try to get a large vocabulary and constantly try to enlarge upon that. Words represent wealth of thought; the more words, the more ideas. If a writer has several words that represent the same idea he can 54 ENGINEERING LITERATURE express exactly what he means better than if he had but one word, and he can give a variety of style in his writings that rests the reader's mind and adds to his interest and enjoyment in the work. Therefore, add to your store of words in order that you may have a richer mental life, that you may better understand and appreciate writers who do have many words, and that you may never be at a loss for the right word when you want it. But how can a vocabulary be enlarged? In the first place, two kinds of vocabularies must be recognized; first, it is a commonplace that we understand many words that we never use this may be called our ''passive" vocabu- lary, and the words we actually have use for may be called our active "working' 7 vocabu- lary. In the opulence of our language we should discriminate between these and strive to enlarge the latter by the study of dictionaries, books on synonyms, glossaries, and the special vocabularies employed by separate trades and professions, always remembering that words have a suggestive power that is greater than their dictionary meaning. We will not discuss the troublesome words "it," "they," "their," and "them," and a number of other words, the indiscriminate use of which is a source of much ambiguity in technical writing; their proper use is a matter of grammar. We would rather warn the en- WOEDS AND PHEASES 55 gineer-author against the employment of cer- tain overworked pet expressions and to urge either their disuse or the acquisition of new words and phrases that will convey the mean- ing just as well. A few of these are: Up-to-date (as an adjective) Of course In this connection In addition to That is to say As will be evident Due to its, this, that, etc. It should be noted Within the scope of In other words Owing to the fact that On the other hand This feature of the subject has now been considered long enough to show most of the faults in literary expression that come from the improper and careless use of words and phrases, and which are caused chiefly, by scanti- ness of vocabulary. We will conclude by quot- ing from an address by George A. Wardlaw, before the engineering students of Cornell University : "Careful reading of the classics will help materially to overcome both defects (' inapt diction and grammatical heresy'), for the clas- sics are classics only because they put sound thoughts in pure language. Here the elements 56 ENGINEERING LITERATURE and qualities of style are handled with great delicacy of touch; the masters are at work painting word-pictures of rare merit ; the right word is in the right place; there is harmony between verbs and noun; pronouns are not uncertain about their antecedents; and the "lid" is on the split infinitive. There is clear- ness and force and efficiency. Prose classics for grammatical purity, then ; poetry for clear and forceful diction; both alike for rhetorical beauty and literary efficiency." INSPIRATION AND MOTIVE IN LITERARY WORK Why is the professional man more inclined to literary work than the commercial man? The conditions of attaining success are vastly different; for instance, display advertising is essential to the success of the commercial man ; but as such practice is contrary to the profes- sional etiquette of the doctor, lawyer, or en- gineer, the professional man, and this refers to the engineer especially, is moved to literary work, frequently, by a desire for publicity (see page 10). self-advancement is the motive which causes the production of most of articles in our engineering publications. An engineer completes a piece of work and says to himself, * Now, if I write an elaborate description of this work it will add to my professional reputation. ' Really the question he ought to ask is this : ' Is there anything in this work I have done that my brother engineers perhaps my business rivals would find it useful to know about?' When he solves a difficult problem does he say : { I ought to publish the solution of that prob- lem to help some other fellow who may also have to struggle with it'? "That is the standard which I want to see 57 58 ENGINEERING LITERATURE followed more and more by the engineers who create engineering literature; * * * The adoption of this standard will do more than anything else to solve our difficulties and on the other hand to make accessible a great amount of valuable and useful information that is now being selfishly hoarded by private interests/'* The business man seeks to build up a big commercial machine manufacturing, whole- sale or retail selling, etc. and needs compara- tively little book knowledge, but must know the trend of markets and values, manufactur- ing processes, and business methods. The pro- fessional man, on the other hand, is an inde- pendent, one-man power, or a part of a small organization, or a unit in a large organization. He needs a great deal of theoretical instruc- tion, as given in colleges, books, periodicals, lectures, etc. ; also a great deal of practical in- struction and special training, obtained from shop work, field work, etc.; while, in common with the commercial man, he must have a wide knowledge of human nature. Inspiration to literary work may be drawn from natural ability, surroundings, tendencies derived from previous training, present occupation, all of which are more closely identified with *From address on "The Making of Literature for Engineers," before the engineering students of the University of Michigan, by Charles Whiting Baker, Editor of "Engineering News." WOEDS AND PHKASES 59 the work of the professional man than with that of the commercial man. Motive in writing may be to gain publicity (as mentioned above), to make money by sale of literary productions, securing business through corres- pondence, to fill a gap in the literature of the pro- fession, aside from any desires for money or fame, to explain a new principle or theory, to describe a new device, to correct an error or false theory, to relate an experience that may be of in- terest to the profession, to bring together scattered fragments of information on any special subject, to meet the requirements of his occupation, as in reports, specifications, etc., to make public the results of original re- search, Motive in speaking may be to gain publicity, to make money by lecturing, teaching, interviews, to address public bodies, council boards, courts, committees, boards of directors, etc., on behalf of special interests, public gatherings social or otherwise for entertainment or in- struction, e. g., to announce new dis- coveries in science, to commemorate a special -occasion, to eulogize some one, VI ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS IN LITERATURE The first essential to success in any work is to have a definite aim, and this is especially so in writing and speaking. The motive will shape the style of the work, so first decide on the motive and then fit everything to that. In technical literature, however, while aim is a primary essential to the writer's success, an essential, hardy less important, to the success of the articles is that they should be written by technical men. A great deal of our present- day engineering literature is produced by men who not only are not engineers, but have had no technical training at all. During the past few years the business of the "literary hack" has developed to large proportions and has extended into the realms of technical literature. These hack writers are, as a rule, men of news- paper experience, with a greater knowledge of what is interesting and popular than of what is of practical value, and with considerable ability and an untiring industry in the col- lecting of information regarding new things in the industrial world, and in collating and pre- senting this information in attractive readable 60 ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS 61 form. Their productions find a ready market in the more popular technical periodicals, but they lack the essential quality of accuracy, -based on the writer's knowledge of the sub- ject or of its fundamental principles, which can be possessed only by men who have had special training. For success in Technical Authorship writ- ing of books, and the more substantial forms of literature and in Technical Journalism, are necessary : Knowledge of fundamental principles, Years of special training, High scientific ability mathematical, me- chanical, analytical, constructive, Vital knowledge of subject, Skill in collecting and arranging ideas, and in presenting them in logical order and attractive form, Appreciation of the information that pros- pective readers will find of value, Judgment in timeliness, or adaptation to the age and interest of prospective readers, Powers of observation, concentration, and analysis, and organizing ability a keen eye for news value, and faculty for discriminating between essentials and details, Power of expression, Style, clearness, judgment, industry, per- severance, Reputation, position, confidence, authority in reference to subject, integrity. 62 ENGINEEEING LITERATURE For success in Speaking, are necessary most of the essentials listed above, but especially : Vital knowledge of the subject, Powers of observation and concentration, Judgment in adaptation of subject and style to hearers, Appreciation of kind of information hear- ers will find of value and interest, Reputation, position, authority, Power of reasoning while on feet, self-con- trol, Attractive method of presentation, Command of language, Style, clearness, judgment, confidence, Good voice, address, grace, force. VII WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT It is discouraging to any writer to work for days or weeks over the preparation of a manu- script, to have it rejected by one after another publisher, until it has gone the entire round of the possible purchasers. Yet this is the fate of many manuscripts on which trouble, ex- pense, and time have been lavished to make them most presentable. Many well-prepared manuscripts never see the light of day in pub- lished form, and others which are published never bring satisfactory financial returns be- cause the writers failed in judgment in the basic element of their work the selection of a suitable subject and method of treatment. Every technical periodical receives many more offerings than it could possibly find space for in its year's issues ''Engineering News," for instance, receives over 1,500 a year from out- side contributors and some of these must be rejected. The first rejections are naturally those on subjects of least practical value to the readers. The journal whose literary se- lections are made with the reader's interest in view; whose choice of matter is based on "its usefulness to the man in the office, in 63 64 ENGINEERING LITERATURE the shop and in the field," will have to reject . many of these contributions as unsuitable en- tirely on the basis of subject matter. It there- fore becomes a matter of first importance to the writer to know what to write about that his contributions may receive consideration; and then a matter of hardly less importance to know how his manuscript should be pre- pared that its consideration may result favor- ably. The first matter depends on the selection of a subject in which engineers are interested, the proper treatment of the subject, and the sub- mission of the manuscript to the right journal. This involves careful thought as to the current trend of engineering literature, and the literary policy of the journals to which it is proposed to submit the article, the former of which mat- ters will be outlined here. The second feature, that of preparation and submission of manu- script, is treated in detail on page 112. What Kind of Information is Most Useful to the Engineer? The greatest need in en- gineering literature at the present day is better quality. The quantity is all-sufficient. The working engineer does not need more jour* nals nor more engineering society proceedings, nor does he ask that they be made more bulky. He does ask and he has a right to ask that his precious time be economized by those who appeal for his attention. He needs the aid of WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT 65 engineering literature; never was practical knowledge in greater demand; but he com- plains and he has a right to complain when the two grains of valuable information he de- sires to use are hidden in two bushels of chaff. He has no time to "seek all day till he finds them," as Shakespeare put it. On the contrary, if he takes too much time to find the thing he wants, he must make shift to do without it, It may not be generally recognized what an entire change has come over the whole field of engineering literature during the past few years, and how urgent is the need that old standards be abolished and new standards cre- ated. While the working engineer demands quality and not quantity in his technical litera- ture, it ought first to be made clear that en- gineering literature is published primarily for the working engineer and not for the amateur or the theorist. The writer of a paper for an engineering journal or an engineering society ought to aim, first and foremost, to make his paper practically useful to his professional brethren, and the measure of merit of his paper is the extent to which he succeeds in this. It should be understood that this standard excludes elementary matter, designed not for the working engineer, but for the student who is preparing himself for professional life. The high-class technical journal does not attempt to give an elementary education, or to dupli- 66 ENGINEERING LITERATURE cate what has already been learned in the col- lege class room. It excludes from its columns nearly all matter of an elementary nature and such material as may be found in standard text-books or which is already a matter of common knowledge to the profession. It seeks to record for the benefit of its readers such information as is not yet found in text-books, and which never will find a place there nor be taught in the class room. It is always looking for information on new and better ways of do- ing work; on new and better tools, devices, and processes, and wherever such progress is being achieved, it is the province of the tech- nical press to investigate that progress and to make it public for the general benefit. This standard assigns an inferior place to matter which is merely curious or amusing, or entertaining, or of popular, rather than tech- nical interest. Not that such articles should be wholly excluded, as a representative journal of the engineering profession ought to have something more in its pages than mere aids to the day ? s work. It should help the engineer to a larger outlook on the world's affairs, but while these things may have a place, they must always rate second to the articles of practical usefulness. Descriptive Articles . Now, what sort of papers are the most useful and what are the least useful to the working engineer? Consid- WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT ( ering the last question first, the least useful articles are those descriptive of particular engi- neering works. Such articles consume a large proportion of the space in some engineering journals and society transactions, and there is no doubt that they form one of the chief rea- sons for the growing habit of leaving these publications to accumulate unread on the shelves of libraries or to find a final end in the waste basket. And yet the situation is not generally un- derstood by any means. Some readers still look for descriptions of particular engineering works in their papers, and think that they are really receiving something when page after page is filled with long, detailed descriptions of this or that or the other piece of engineer- ing work. It may seem strange to say that these descriptive articles are the least valu- able material ; in fact, that they should not have the first place. There was a time, and that not many years ago, when engineering journals consisted almost wholly of such ma- terial, but no journal could today attempt to publish descriptions of every work of import- ance every bridge and water-works and mine or power station nor would these descriptions answer any good purpose. It may be as is sometimes claimed that multitudinous pages of such matter make a big showing, but no one ever wades through articles of this sort, unless 68 ENGINEEKING LITEEATUKE they are read by engineers who are too young and too little experienced to know better. But this statement does not mean that no such descriptive articles are of use or interest. Many descriptive articles are well worth while. The engineer who desires to keep abreast of the times wants to know about the great and fam- ous engineering works that are in the public eye the Panama Canal, the electrification of railroads, the boring of large sub-aqueous tun- nels, the "Western irrigation works. Further, he must know something of the latest achieve- ments of the profession in ocean navigation, in high buildings, great bridges, and in a hun- dred other directions. Not to know about such matters places him at a disadvantage in con- tact with the public and with his brother en- gineers, and he rightly looks to his profes- sional journal for information. It is to the descriptions of ordinary works that the statement of uselessness is particularly applied. It must be recognized, of course, that everyone is not familiar with these ordinary works and that while very few engineers ever get a chance to build a record-breaking sky- scraper, many thousands are interested in the details of ordinary buildings. Therefore, de- tails of typical works of ordinary size are use- ful to the engineer and they deserve a place in ev^ry high-class periodical What is meant by descriptions of ordinary works may be more WHAT TO WEITE ABOUT 69 apparent from the following quotation from a paper on " Power Plant Economics," pub- lished in 1906: Three years ago the steam power plant for the generation of electricity had ap- parently settled down to an almost uni- form arrangement of standard apparatus in which one power plant differed from another only in details of construction of engines, generators, and auxiliaries. When the design of power stations or of dams or of any other class of engineering works becomes so standardized, there can be no excuse for loading up engineering journals with articles describing and illustrating works of the same sort, differing only in their geo- graphical location. In considering this matter of publishing de- scriptions of engineering works, too, it is often of interest to note the enormous change that has occurred in the last forty years. It is hardly so long ago as that that the engineer- ing works of magnitude were so few that it was practicable to have them all described in current engineering literature. The late George S. Morison used to publish a separate mono- graph for each large bridge he designed; and in that day, when literature of bridges of any sort was very scarce, they were prized by the profession. But nowadays there are hundreds of large bridges and other engineering works under construction all over the world, and life 70 ENGINEERING LITERATUEE is too short to read the descriptions of the fiftieth part of them, even if they were printed. Engineering Problems. The idea which must again and again be impressed upon con- tributors is: "Don't describe engineering works, but describe the solution of engineer- ing problems." The working engineer in the field or shop or office can seldom copy direct from another engineering work and would often be misled if he attempted to, since different conditions might prevail, but he can find help in the solutions of the problems before him by studying the solutions that others have used for similar problems. By engineering problems, however, is not meant mathematical problems. These have their own value and importance; but in the practical everyday work of the engineer, the problem of how to do a particular thing and to do it successfully arises forty times as often. The distinction between the descriptions of works and of problems is thus explained in "Engineering News": A certain locomotive has been built, let us say, and the firm building it furnishes us with drawings and a stereotype description, including a table of its principal dimens- sions. We publish it, very likely, in the ab- sence of anything better. Suppose, on the other hand, the man responsible for the de- sign of that locomotive sits down and tells a story of a different sort. The locomotive, it appears, follows ordinary practice in WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT . 71 its design, except in its firebox. It was desired to use a certain kind of coal, which gave trouble in certain specified ways, and the problem was, how to make a firebox to burn this particular kind of coal; and then he tells us in detail how the peculiar shape and size of the firebox were devel- oped, keeping in mind all the time that only that part of the problem's solution is worth record in technical literature which will be practically useful to his brother engineers who have a similar prob- lem to solve. That, in a nutshell, is our idea of the most useful class of technical literature, and contributions along these lines always find a welcome in these columns. Then the commercial problem is one of those most frequently presented. It is not only how work can be done successfully, but how it can be done at least cost, that the engineer has to decide ; it is the business of the engineering journal to give him aid on tasks like these. In describing such problems, the question again arises as to how far to carry the description of the work. If the enginering work involves new problems of design, exceptional difficul- ties in execution, novel methods of work, then by all means write a description of them, and the writer must perforce put in enough con- cerning the whole work itself to make its novel features .clear. It is not such descriptive arti- cles that are condemned. It is rather the meaningless description of one engineering 72 ENGINEERING LITERATURE work after another built on standard designs throughout, with perhaps just enough differ- ence here and there to give the semblance of an excuse for foisting it upon the patient reader under the guise of engineering litera- ture. If the writer for the technical press will put himself in the place of the reader, and try to imagine just what the reader will want to know, he will find his task simplified ; particu- larly so if he is able to gage the wants not of one reader but of a thousand readers who are in search of help in their work. Construction Details. At the same time, it is not necessary that writers on engi- neering construction should always look for, and choose to write on, details about what is "out of the ordinary" and leave the ordinary unwritten. Let anyone scan with care the indexes to engineering periodicals and the statement will be apparent that, in genr eral, the ordinary is in small proportion to the extraordinary. For example, select bridge construction not design and search through the columns of any engineering publication for the past decade or two. Many excellent articles will be found descriptive of difficult bridge foundation work and of caisson work in particular, also a considerable number of articles on floating bridges to place on scows, and many illustrations of ingeniously peculiar falsework. In fact, there is almost everything WHAT TO WBITE ABOUT 73 under the sun except the description of the ordinary details involved in erecting an ordi- nary bridge under ordinary conditions, accom- panied with data of cost. It will likewise be difficult to find in all the range of engineering literature a good article describing how to erect a land pile driver, or how to erect and afterward shift a guy der- rick, with details of the time and expense in- volved in such work. Turn from bridge build- ing to trestle and viaduct construction and note what a dearth there is of information as to practical details the how and the cost. Turn again to rock excavation and a similar state of affairs will be found. On the most difficult class of rock excavation, namely, shaft and tunnel work, there are so many excellent articles written by engineers that one is at a loss which to read first and when to stop reading. But let anyone seek to find an article descriptive of the spacing of holes, the charging, the firing, and the removal of rock from a sewer trench, with costs, and he will look long and almost in vain. Such work as this, which so many hundreds of engineers have seen, is by virtue of its very common- ness, left undescribed. Within the past few years a number of ex- cellent articles have appeared on the methods and costs of concrete construction, but almost without exception the very important item 74 ENGINEEEING LITERATUKE of forms has been ignored. Yet the economic success of reinforced concrete in building con- struction is very largely dependent on this very item. Excellent data have been given on the cost of making concrete itself, after the plant has been installed, but little has been said of the methods and costs of installing, shifting, and dismantling the plant. Such instances might be enumerated almost without end but this is sufficient to show that it is these very simple yet very important things that are so universally ignored. An engineer need not be the chief engineer of a great work, and the work he is on need not be great, nor even unusual, to enable him to find subject matter for an excellent article. While general descriptions of great engineering works are interesting to all, they are of direct value to but a few readers, and the same holds true of work of an extraordinary character. On the contrary, however, an analytical dis- cussion of common work really is most uncom- mon, yet by virtue of its uncommonness it is of great interest to a host of readers. There appears to be a fear that to write of little things belittles the writer. No fear has less reason for existence. Some of the most celebrated engineers of today owe their celeb- rity in no small part to articles that they have written on the details of the construction of common things. A man who thus shows him- WHAT TO WETTE ABOUT 75 self to be a student of details is inferentially regarded to be a safe man to be intrusted with the larger problems of engineering construc- tion, which are, after all, little more than a vast assemblage of little problems. Methods and Costs. In connection with this subject of engineering problems, there is probably none that gives the average con- sulting or designing engineer more trou- ble than in obtaining definite and desirable data that can be used with confidence as a basis for estimating the cost of work. Second only to the desire for accurate cost data, or, perhaps primarily, in the opinion of some, is the desire for detailed information regarding successful methods of executing work; methods that have saved expense, saved time, safeguarded life and facilitated construc- tive operations. This is especially the case where, as not infrequently happens, an engineer is called upon to work in a field with the de- tails of which he is not thoroughly conversant, when, manifestly, he cannot rely on his own experience, but must seek that of others. His first recourse is to the various technical peri- odicals and society transactions, and his usual method is to begin a search through these to find what his brother engineers have put on record, and usually, as shown above, with very indifferent results. Why, in these professional papers and arti- 76 ENGINEERING LITERATURE cles in the technical journals, are the vital de- tails of methods and costs omitted? Presum- ably the engineer and the contractor consider this information, often the accumulated result of many years' experience, as one of their chief assets and an important feature of their "stock-in-trade" on which they base their reputation and consequent practice. On the other hand, it is altogether probable that in many cases this policy of secrecy regarding prices to which so many firms tenaciously ad- here, is really based on nothing more than tra- dition, and that the publication of prices would react to the benefit more than to the injury of the engineer and the contractor. The need of all available information of this character is- evident. The engineer or con- tractor who is called upon to furnish an esti- mate for a given engineering work must know what such a piece of work will cost to perform in order to make a bid which will yield him a fair profit, but which will not be so excessive as to lose the job. Then, as to methods, while all information regarding them is of value, the facilities for performing the various operations as well as for handling materials, are constant- ly undergoing such radical changes that much that was of use on older works is now out of date. It is almost unnecessary to say that every piece of engineering or contracting work WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT 77 is practically a problem calling for individual solution. Recognizing, then, the scarcity of methods and costs information and the need of it, and the fact that there is plenty of it among the private papers of engineers and contractors, ;vhy is there so little available? One reason is, as mentioned above, that it is regarded by some as their professional "stock-in-trade." Another reason is the assumed objection on the part of a superior to having an assistant describe a piece of work, and publish the cost figures, an objection based, in the majority of cases, entirely upon traditional business policy. In such a description, the employee naturally refrains from anything that might be consid- ered by his employer as revealing private in- formation, and where there is any doubt in question, he will omit data merely on the chance that it might be objected to or will get special permission for its inclusion. A third reason for the omission of cost data is the failure on the part of many engineers to comprehend the usefulness of such data to other engineers. Many engineers when they sit down to write a professional paper undertake the work from the wrong point of view and give merely the useless and little-desirable de- scription of a given piece of work, instead of subordinating this to the main purpose of re- cording those facts and figures which will be 78 ENGINEEEING LITEKATUKE of direct practical use to other members of the profession. These facts should stand out prom- inently and not be buried in a mass of de- scriptive matter. On the other hand, there should be sufficient literary excellence to pre- vent the paper from becoming a dry recital of facts and figures and making it far less instruc- tive than would be the same or even less in- formation presented in such a manner that it compels the attention of the reader and im- presses the salient facts upon his memory. Of these possible reasons for the scarcity of methods and costs data, the most important is the first; but taking all in all, a knowledge of costs is only one of the qualifications needed by a successful contractor and is probably the one of lightest weight, but one which he often considers the heaviest. He overlooks or under- estimates the qualities he possesses which he cannot pass on his knowledge of when, where, and how, to obtain capital with which to oper- rate and where to secure bondsmen; his busi- ness ability and knowledge of how and where to buy; his knowledge of human nature; his power to organize and discipline his forces to secure efficient and harmonious work. The day of secrecy in connection with tech- nical matters has very largely passed, and it may not be out of place to quote that well- known comment of Francis Bacon: "I hold every man a debtor to his profession; from WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT 79 the which, as men of course do seek to re- ceive countenance and profit, so ought they of duty to endeavour themselves by way of amerds to be a help and ornament thereunto." Special Subjects. The choice of a subject naturally depends upon the writer's interest in it and his previous information or ex- perience in regard to it. In his treatment of a subject it is not necessary that the writer depend on himself. He may make a special study of a certain phase of en- gineering work or study and collect data con- cerning the labors of others from all avail- able sources, but he should supplement this with the results of his own study. He must put original thought and work in his article and not make it merely a patchwork of other peo- ple's ideas. In this way much valuable work may be done in engineering literature, as, for example, the treatment in an exhaustive man- ner some years ago, by a series of articles in "Engineering News," of "Stand-pipe Acci- dents and Failures." The author, Prof. Wm. D. Pence, collected all possible information bearing upon this sub- ject, and, resisting the temptation to publish a general treatise on stand-pipe construction, he thus made immediately available an histori- cal record of stand-pipe accidents and failures as a whole and stand-pipe failures in general. Every busy engineer who has attempted to 80 ENGINEERING LITERATURE secure exhaustive information on almost any engineering subject knows that most of the books from which he expects help contain only sketchy presentations of the subject he is in- vestigating, owing to the fact that in trying to give a little of everything the authors lack space, or knowledge, to give everything of something. Turning to the technical papers as must almost invariably be done to secure the nearest approach to the whole and the latest of the. available information sought, it is found that the information here is widely scattered, as it must be in this age of progress. It is mainly, therefore, to exhaustive treatments like that of Prof. Pence that qne must look for any- thing like an adequate presentation of a special branch or phase of engineering, or indeed of any other science. It may be complained that I have treated this subject at too great length this may be, but I feel that the importance of the subject, and its treatment, as the fundamental consider- ations in engineering literature, should be so impressed on the writer that he will give it careful thought instead of rushing into work on a manuscript that is doomed to failure from its inception. In the last analysis, engineering literature is the work of the engineering profession. If it is to be made better and more useful by follow- ing out the lines here indicated, the work WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT 81 be done by the engineers. The technical jour- nal is a co-operative exchange. If the prac- ticing engineer looks to it for aid in his work, he ought in turn to impart from his own experi- ence for the benefit of other members of the profession. The general adherence to the char- acter of articles described might aid those who would thus contribute to the general fund of knowledge in a way that would be of the greatest benefit to all. VIII COLLECTING AND ARRANGING MATERIAL The collecting of ideas and material, and the arrangement of this material in the final form of a literary production must each be consid- ered as a process in itself. The writer or speaker who writes or speaks impromptu has to perform a five-fold task; he must collect, select, proportion, arrange, and express his ideas simultaneously. Some men can do this. An experienced editor often gives "copy" to the printer just as he writes it. Men who are accustomed to debate or speaking in public soon acquire the faculty of thinking while on their feet; they can extemporize volubly on almost any subject and for almost any time, but it is seldom that such productions, trans- formed into paper and printer's ink, could be regarded as good literature. As a typical il- lustration of this, read a speech as literally reproduced in the Congressional Record. Scholars and literary men often deliver short "extempore" speeches that prove most read- able because they are always ready to be called on; they know from intuition and training what is best suited to their audience; they 82 COLLECTING AND ARRANGING 83 know that simplicity is the soul of style in spoken as well as in written thought, and they adapt their discourses to the conditions. But back of the seeming "extempore" address has been thought prevision and provision; pro- vision of material and prevision in arrangement, against the ever possible emergency of a "speech" call. Most speeches, however, re- quire careful and extensive editing before they are suitable for printed literature. The first step in the preparation of any liter- ary production, after the subject has been de- cided upon, is the collecting of material. In an article giving the results of original investi- gation, the material would naturally consist of notes representing the thought and experi- ences of the writer, but it must not be con- sidered that all literary productions are, or should necessarily be, entirely the original work of the writer. This is very seldom the case. Technical journals, society proceedings, and such publications may, as already stated, be considered as a co-operative exchange in which are first recorded the results of original re- search, discovery, and invention. Men have many and various motives for writing and speaking, and the best of the material thus produced ultimately finds its way into print. This, with notes of unpublished addresses, etc., forms the material, other than that of his original thought, that is available to the tech- 84 ENGINEERING LITERATURE nical writer, and his duty is to collect, select, arrange, and present it in the most useful and readable form, according to his own judg- ment. In brief, therefore, literary material may consist of: Extracts from books, periodicals, pamphlets, bulletins, society transactions, etc. Notes of original research and thought addresses, lectures, etc, ordinary conversation Quotations from literary authorities. The collecting of material for compiled works, in which class ninety-nine per cent, of the existing technical books may be included, consists mainly in looking up references and the noting of authorities; a process requiring memory, concentration, and judgment. The manner and thoroughness of this work will depend upon the conditions as to time and re- sources available. The material for this class of books is used in the form of either direct quotations, abridgments, or adaptations of ideas, and the rights of the original author of these ideas should be a primary consideration (see page 164). It is well to compile, as a first step in collec- tion of material, as complete a bibliography of the subject as is possible, noting the authorities and the substance of the ideas on index cards. The art of representing ideas by as few words as possible should be cultivated, and a COLLECTING AND ARRANGING 85 note-book or a few record cards should be carried to be ready for use at any time, and thus no time need be wasted in noting ideas and no vital idea need escape. A single word will be a sufficient record in many cases to re- call a volume of facts, and it will be surpris- ing how, by thus concentrating, the power of quickly collecting ideas will increase with prac- tice. These cards can be shifted as desired in making the final selection and arrangement of material, thus obviating the necessity of copying large quantities of matter which is afterwards discarded, and of handling a num- ber of loose sheets. In the collecting of material, the reporter's method of gathering news is hardly applicable to technical papers which require study and care in preparation, but material for short papers, for items of news and personal interest, as well as for essays, addresses, etc., may be gathered from observation at almost any time and in almost any class of work a man is en- gaged in. Many of these items may prove useful to periodicals, as well as to the engineer in his own work. They should always be noted and recorded. Observation of interesting de- tails of construction, etc., soon develop in a man the "nose for news"; he will find inter- esting facts everywhere, and will derive much information from casual conversation with men in different employments. One should never 86 ENGINEERING LITERATURE go to strange place with his eyes shut, or visit a new piece of work without noting all that strikes him as peculiar and important. The man who learns to carry a mental note- book or jots down these items in his memo book or on cards will have little difficulty in finding material, and new subjects worth writ- ing about will often spring up in the least ex- pected places. The life and work going on about us is our first source of ideas; the sec- ond and scarcely less important is the field of literature itself. A noting of items of infor- mation of what is taking place in the world as it appears in newspapers and magazines will give much material. To a writer all these facts and ideas are of use ; they should not be thrown away; they should be sifted, digested, selected, and preserved for future reference. "When the material has been selected, it must be arranged, and otherwise prepared for pub- lication. A good book does not consist merely of a compilation of material and statement of facts, however accurate those facts may be. It is necessary that the material be presented in logical order. I do not say the "best" or- der as there is probably no "best" arrange- ment. There may be a best possible, considered from the point of view of each particular set of readers; there may be a best possible con- sidered in connection with the aims of the writer, but there can be no "best" arrange- COLLECTING AND ARRANGING 87 ment of any particular subject to suit all classes of readers, and opinions of individuals, and at the same time to meet the particular object the writer had in view. But there can be a "logical" arrangement. The matter of arrangement is important, as on it depends the success of the book, almost as much as on the material itself. It, in turn, depends on the ability and judgment of the writer. The study of the arrangement of works of a similar nature by other writers will greatly assist. It is not necessary or advisable to adhere rigidly to any one of these existing arrangements, but as thought has presumably been expended on them, they will often give valuable suggestions regarding the relations between subjects, and also serve as a warning against possible errors. Time spent on ar- rangement of material is time well spent. The same principle of arrangement method, sys- tem operates throughout our lives in all de- partments of work. Have you ever noticed the arrangement of the parts of a machine, packed for shipment; how hundreds of pieces and made-up parts are packed for shipment in three or four cases, the whole small in com- parison with the built-up machine? The vari- ous parts are fitted together; one inside an- other, a bent piece fitted around other various- ly shaped pieces ; flat pieces tied in a bundle and all in such order that much time is saved 88 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE in the erection of the machine, space in storage, and expense in shipment. Similarly, by a logi- cal arrangement of the text of a book, there is a saving of space and expense to the writer and time to the reader. Some literary works fail from lack of a logi- cal plan; others because the plan was faulty. The chief faults in plans of books or papers lie in their incompleteness; the lack of unity, proportion, interest, and cohesion; the misuse of quotations, and in the careless method of arranging the material. The outline plan should be as complete as possible none of the topics to be treated should be omitted. There should be unity stick to the subject and avoid digressions. There should be proportion this depends largely upon the final expression but also much upon the arrangement of topics; what is important should be brought forward and what is relatively unimportant should be retired to the background. There should al- ways be interest one writer may produce a book containing a valuable record of facts and experience, but written in a style about as readable as the Patent Office Gazette or the Census Report, while another writer may pre- sent practically the same facts in a style as readable as a book of fiction. This should also include appropriateness often there is intro- duced into a book a class of material that has some relation to the subject, but which may COLLECTING AND ARRANGING 89 not be appropriate to the class of readers for whom the book is intended. There should be cohesion logical order and smoothness in de- velopment. In the use of quoted or adapted material there are many things to be consider- ed. Primarily the writer must himself thorough- ly understand all the definitions and points brought out by his authority in order that he may avoid ambiguity or obscurity in his own work. He must also consider the aims, preju- dices and faults of his authorities; their lack of method, proportion, etc. ; their omissions and lack of judgment, and further back still, the faults and omissions of the authorities to whom they referred. This should impress on writers the point, in the collection of material, of not- ing their authorities, and giving proper credit, as treated on page 173, so that investigators can trace important facts and figures back to their original sources. The importance of great care in the use of collated matter may be judged from the follow- ing paragraph, quoted from a book review in " Engineering News." "The preparation of text-books for schools ought to be regarded as a very serious business. They plant seed in a virgin soil and that seed ought to be very carefully selected and free from tares. What the pupil learns from his text-books is likely to be tenaciously held in the memory and difficult to uproot. Their au- thors should, therefore, be particularly careful 90 ENGINEERING LITERATURE that the matter should be carefully selected, the statement of facts and principles adequate and accurate, and, in technical and industrial matters, the latest and best accepted theory and practice should be presented." In the arranging and final preparation of the material, different methods are used by dif- ferent writers; every writer has to find out by experience what method is best suited to him and his class of work. In general the use of index cards is much to be preferred to paper in making up the plan of the book. If the topics are recorded on index cards, they can be arranged and rearranged as desired and proportioned under headings and sub-heads, and sub-sub-heads, until a logical general plan of the work is drawn up, which may later be amplified as desired. The use of cards in this preliminary arrangement is of great assist- ance to the writer in his later writing by hold- ing him to the topic before him and prevent- ing his flying off on a tangent into other fields of thought. He need not fear forgetting the other topics, having them permanently record- ed and arranged; and in case of new ideas coming to him, he can record them on cards- and forget them until he reaches their proper places. When the material to be used has been se- lected, it may be written out in the form of paragraphs upon separate sheets. These sheets COLLECTING AND ARRANGING 91 may then be arranged in order according to the card record plan of the book and thus form a skeleton of the text, which may be amplified or condensed as desired and finally edited for the printer. In regard to the final writing of original ma- terial the present writer has found that instead of trying to write out at once the matter in com- plete and final form, it suits him better to write it first in outline, by notes, jotting down at random as few words as may be necessary to describe an idea relating to the particular topic in hand. Later the words recall the ideas and these notes are expanded upon as may be necessary to express the ideas in full. In making this first complete draft, merely a general connection of ideas is wanted, with lit- tle regard to the best words or forms of expres- sion; no corrections are made in the writing and frequently an idea is expressed in two or even more different ways. In this writing each particular heading as represented on a card is isolated and treated exhaustively with- out any consideration of its connection or re- lationship to other headings or topics, thus preventing as far as possible the distraction of thought that must come if connections or re- lations between headings are thought of at the same time the writing is done. When this complete, and more or less con- nected, draft has been made (and written with 92 ENGINEERING LITERATURE wide spacing) it is followed by a careful peru- sal for improvement in wording and expres- sion, and the draft thus improved as a literary production, is then "edited" for the printer, according to the general principles given in Chapter X. One point that must be mentioned in con- clusion is the free use of paper. An article may be a failure on account of a false economy in the use of paper in drawing up the incom- plete or the complete drafts of the work. This is false economy, first, because paper is cheap, and secondly, because its consideration is al- ways of far less importance than time, mental labor, eyesight, and satisfactory results. AIDS TO LITERARY WORK There are many aids available to the man who is literarily inclined, which the special character of his work will bring to his atten- tion, but among the most prominent aids in general writing and speaking may be men- tioned the following: Good memory (see page 94). Knowledge of shorthand: The ability to write shorthand will often be found useful in taking notes of ad- dresses, lectures, etc., as well as of ordi- nary conversation; in aiding the memory in many ways; in making notes for refer- ence in speaking, to occupy small space; in noting the points of an adversary's COLLECTING AJtfD ARRANGING 93 argument in debate, etc. The art can be readily mastered by any person of fair intelligence, possessed of patience and per- severance and a desire to learn. Pocket note-book or memo cards. Good book of synonyms : There are many such books, but Roget's "Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases" is probably as good a book of this kind as can be had. Reference books of quotations from standard authors. Standard up-to-date Encyclopedia. Unabridged Dictionary: The "Century" and "Standard" dic- tionaries are the standards in most pub- lishers' offices. Text-books of Rhetoric, Grammar, Punctu- ation, etc. Reading of Classics, etc. (for style). Listening to lectures, etc., by prominent speakers, and taking notes. Making outlines, abstracts, and summaries of books and articles. Almanacs, etc., giving volumes of facts. IX EXERCISING THE MEMORY On pages 23 and 92 "memory" has been referred to as a prime essential to success and as the first of vari- ous aids in literary work. There is no other human faculty of such importance to success in any branch of endeavor as memory, and this is particularly so in the work of the engineer, who must, by the nature of his professional employment, be conversant with many facts, details, and data on a great variety of topics. On account of this importance of the faculty of memory, the following notes have been introduced, but I do not wish them to be construed as a "sys- tem" for the cultivation of memory. In the limited space of a few pages, no "system" could be given, even in outline, . to be of value beyond that of sug- gestion. I, therefore, make no pretensions for these notes beyond their suggestion as an "exercise" of the memory. There are several "systems" taught, by as many different teachers, and they all may be worthy of study. I have neither studied nor inves- tigated any one of them and cannot, either from ex- perience or knowledge, recommend any particular one, but in general, would recommend the considera- tion, at least, of any system that tends to cultivate an assimilative, or natural, memory. In these notes, I have tried to explain some principles on which memory is based, and to suggest a method of using these principles as an exercise, which, if applied with care to the reader's work or study, will result in an almost immediate quickening of the very important faculty of memory. H. F. What is " Memory "? It is defined as "The mind's faculty for connecting its past experi- ence with its present self" and as "The faculty of retaining representations of whatever has once been in consciousness." When this fac- 94 EXERCISING THE MEMORY 95 ulty is exercised involuntarily, it is "remem- brance"; when occasioned by the exercise of will, it is "recollection." Without this faculty the past experience of the individual or the race would be a blank, and all knowledge would be limited to the present moment. It is the very basis of knowledge, and its value, therefore, cannot be exaggerated ; neither can its possibilities be overestimated. It is a fac- ulty that is as subject to development by proper exercise as is the body. Nothing can be so strengthened by practice or so weakened by neglect, and since the most ancient times, de- vices and systems have been invented both to assist the power of recollection and to develop the natural faculty of remembrance. A perusal of almost any one of the popular magazines of today will show that various systems are still taught and that they have been applied to the modern method of teaching by correspondence. Devices to assist recollection are known under the general name of "Mnemonics" the art of assisting recollection by methods of associa- tion. The common aim of mnemonics is to associate the thing to be remembered with something which it is thought can be more easily recalled. The common method of tying a string around a finger to remember to buy something or to post a letter, is such a device ; so is the transferring of a ring from a finger on which it is customarily worn to another 96 ENGINEERING LITERATURE finger unaccustomed to the feeling of a ring, on account of which the matter is constantly brought to the mind. There are many other devices that are familiar to almost every man, one of the best known being the old " Thirty days hath September" rhyme for remembering the number of days in each month. These are very common and elementary forms of mnemonics, but is it not too often the case that even with the simple device of a string on the finger, while the attention is later directed to the device, the fact which was intended to be brought to mind cannot be re- called? This shows the weakness of the arti- ficial method of recollection, and that the de- pendence of the recollection upon the law of association only, is of little practical utility. It is, however, of some service when certain devices are regularly used in connection with certain definite facts, but in the use of any of these artificial or arbitrary methods each mind should note what sort of associations are most facile to itself and should use them in its own way. Notwithstanding, however, what might be said in its favor, mnemonics is not an exer- cise of memory and it compels a double duty on the senses in that the device itself must be recollected before the fact is recalled. Look again at our definition of "memory" "The mind's faculty for connecting its past experience with its present self. ' ' We are said EXERCISING THE MEMORY .97 to "remember" a thing when the idea arises in the mind with a consciousness at the same time that we have had this idea before. Dr. Watts, in his essays on "The Improvement of the Mind, ' ' says : * ' Our memory is our natural power of retaining what we learn, and of re- calling it on every occasion. Therefore we can never be said to remember anything, whether it be ideas or propositions, words or things, no- tions or arguments, of which we have not had some former idea or perception, either by sense of imagination, thought or reflection ; but what- soever we learn from observation, books, or conversation, etc., must all be laid up and pre- served in the memory, if we would make it really useful. ' ' It will be seen then that mem- ory involves two periods : the past and the present, and that it also involves a third stage "The mind's faculty for connecting" "The faculty of retaining representations of what- ever has been in consciousness." Consider, for example, your trip to Europe or your visit to a steel works. Your mind was impressed with the vastness of the ocean, the life of the people you met, the buildings, and the customs of the foreign countries, etc., or in the case of the steel works, with the various exciting details in the manufacture of steel, the fire from the converters, the rolling of the blooms, the roar of the hammers, etc. Later you want to tell some one of your experiences. You cannot 98 ENGINEEBING LITEBATUEE see the ocean, the people, or the buildings; you cannot hear the roar of the steel works or feel the heat of the furnaces; yet you can convey an idea of these things that have been in your experience in language, more or less clearly, according to the impressions they made upon your mind and your power of reviving the impressions. The language in which you express your thoughts has also something to do with your description, but while this has not in itself any relation to the incidents you are describing, it does depend upon your memory of words, etc. Memory consists of three stages : first impression, preservation of the impres- sion, revival of the impression when wanted. Memory will depend primarily upon the first impression, as without that there is nothing to be preserved or revived. The common phrase, "It made no impression on my mind," will have a new meaning when seriously thought of in connection with these three stages of mem- ory. A good memory will (1) receive with ease strong impressions of words, objects, and incidents; (2) store the impressions in great quantity and variety; (3) retain the impres- sions for a considerable period; (4) revive the impressions strongly and promptly when wanted. At the same time, a memory may be good as concerns first impressions, but poor as concerns its power of preservation and re- EXERCISING THE MEMORY 9< vival. Or vice versa, the power of revival may be strong, but the mind may not readily receive or preserve impressions. This is often noticeable in cases where a student "crams" the night before an examination and forgets everything in a few days after the examina- tion. By thus forcing impressions on the mind one idea effaces another. Don't cram. Any one or all of the above qualifications of a good memory may be improved by exercise, or injured by neglect. It is a good exercise for the revival of impressions, to take a short time daily and think over something that has passed try to recall to mind faces, buildings, incidents, or the substance of what has been read. It will be surprising how quickly this simple exercise, systematically practiced, will strengthen the powers of recollection. But behind it all is always the first impression. The strengthening of that will, in turn, strengthen the other faculties. But how can it be strength- ened? By exercise. The reader knows, as a mere matter of fact, that first impressions of anything in which he is really interested are stronger than those of anything in which he is not interested. Strengthen impressions, there- fore, by cultivating interest in everything worth remembering. James Russell Lowell says, in regard to read- ing: "The moment you have a definite aim. attention is quickened, the mother of memory, 100 ENGINEEEING LITEBATUEE and all that you acquire groups and arranges itself in an order that is lucid. * * * also forces on us the necessity of thinking, which, after all, is the highest result of all education. ' ' Those words contain the true secret of mem- ory aim, attention, thinking. As all roads lead to Home, so they lead away; as interest may be directed toward anything, so may it be diverted, which is mind-wandering. The opposite of mind-wandering is attention the steady application of the mind. It is a direc- tion of the intellect by the will, actuated by an aim. But you may want to learn a certain fact, a formula, a telephone number, a definition, or a man's name. You have an aim in learning it. You repeat it a dozen times or more and forget it in less than twenty-four hours. Why ? By trying to learn it by a wrong method, by rote, mere repetition, "in one ear and out of the other." You may have tried hard to re- member and given it due diligence, but what was lacking was thought reasoning. Nothing cultivates mind-wandering so much as repeti- tion, or reading without thinking. Thinking, as Lowell says, "the highest result of all educa- tion," is the basis of memory. By thinking, we deduce inferences from facts or proposi- tions; by thinking, we find resemblances to, and relations between objects. We are told that one building is fifty feet higher than an- EXERCISING THE MEMORY 101 other, and we realize the relative proportions by an unconscious process of reasoning com- parison. We often say of a person: "He re- minds me of a friend" a case of similarity involving thought. These and many other mat- ters of every-day occurrence, in which we are aware of no special process of reasoning, are in fact, based on the faculty of thinking. To think intelligently and systematically, it is necessary to know something of the under- lying laws of thinking. To go into this in detail would necessitate an essay on "Reason," but as the present purpose is merely to sug- gest an exercise, we may say that the general principles of thought are much the same as those of "figures of thought," mentioned on page 24, in connection with rhetoric : Simi- larity, Dissimilarity, and Association. We may go still further, and under these heads, classify the various figures of speech and thought, and apply them to the art of thinking, or of finding relations between objects. 1. The principle of Similarity : Alliteration a relationship of sight, as "Tongues in trees, books in babbling brooks, and sermons in stones." Paronomasia a relationship of sound, as, telegraph telephone. Simile an expressed comparison, as, The brotherhood of the profession. 2. The principle of Dissimilarity : ^m^*> UNIVERSITY 102 ENGINEEEING LITERATUEE Contrast and Antithesis implying op position, as, high low; new old. Under 1 and 2 combined is Synecdoche : Concrete and abstract similar qual- ity in adjective and noun, as, con- crete strong ; rubber elastic. Genus and species an individual of a general class, as, tree pine; animal dog. 3. The principle of Association : Cause and effect lightning thunder. Container and the thing contained, or whole and part, as, Locomotive- boiler. Sign and the thing signified crown monarchy. Author and his works Gillett Hand-book of Cost Data. How can these principles be applied to our daily work? Their understanding will give us a basis of thought, of finding relations between things unknown that we wish to learn and re- member, and things already known. It w r ill enable us to proceed intelligently from the known to the unknown, and to fix that in memory; to retain what has been mastered before advancing to something new. By thoughtful application of these principles, they will gradually become assimilated with the very acts of reading, conversing, and doing, until they are unconsciously applied to every- thing we do. By a slight reflection, almost every one will find that these principles are EXERCISING THE MEMORY 103 already unconsciously applied we remember many things by their relations to other and better known things. But as an example, in a simple form, read over the following words, starting and ending with the one now in the mind memory : Memory, emery, rough, ocean, steamship, Mauretania, large, small, village, London, Bank of England, savings, economics. Wellington, Napoleon, finance, railroad, canal, tow, propel, power, official, Washington, father, son, bright, learning, memory. Without any special consideration of this list of words, it would require considerable repetition before they could be repeated freely and quickly, forward or backward. But it will be found, when the words have been repeated, even once, with thought of the relationship ex- isting between them, that they can be recalled with little effort. For instance, read them over in this way: memory similarity of sound emery concrete and abstract; em- ery is usually rough rough association, as the ocean is often rough ocean association 104 ENGINEERING LITERATURE steamship Mauretania large small village London Bank of England saving economics Wellington Napoleon genus and species; there are many steamships of which this is an individual concrete and abstract, as everyone knows that the Mauretania is large antithesis concrete and abstract contrast a village is small but London is a large city whole and part, as the Bank is in London cause and effect; the bank is both the cause the the result of saving cause and effect; saving is the effect of economy author and his work; Wel- lington's book on "Eco- nomic Location of Rail- ways" is generally known merely as "Wellington" association association; a man is some- times spoken of as a "Na- poleon of finance" EXEECISING THE MEMORY 105 finance railroad canal tow propel power official "Washington father son bright association; railroads re- quire financing and the terms are often used to- gether contrast association, as canal boats are towed antithesis; towing and pro- pelling are the two ex- tremes association; it requires pow- er to propel a thing sign and thing signified; an official is the representa- tive of power. association between the offi- cials and the capital of the country simile; "The father of his country" antithesis concrete and abstract; the relationship formed by an implied, but not express- ed, relationship of sound between son and sun 106 ENGINEEKING LITERATURE concrete and abstract; a person who has learning is considered bright learning cause and effect; learning is a natural result of mem- ory memory It will now be found that, without any fur- ther resort to the list, these words have so impressed themselves on the mind through their relationships, that they can be repeated backward almost as easily and quickly as for- ward. The words of this list were selected in order to illustrate the relationships described, but the principle may be extended by practice to phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and chap- ters, in reading, so that a logical sequence may easily be kept in mind; and in speaking, so that little or no recourse need be had to notes. If the matter has been logically arranged, these divisions can be reduced to keywords which may be linked together by a chain of related words. A list of words, or subjects, or thoughts, that are unrelated, may be thus connected by a chain of related words, as for instance, the following order of a classification of engineer- ing subjects: Natural Sciences science and art Arts Industrial Arts fine arts mine (relation- ship of sound with fine) Mining EXERCISING THE MEMORY 107 Mining and Metallurgy minerals iron steel Strength- Strength of Materials Drawing Materials- Drawing and Machine Design design plan building Wood Timber and Wood Working Working- Metals and Metal Working manufacturing -Mill- Mills, Factories, Shops Heating of shops- Heat and Fuels fire boiler Steam- Steam Engineering engine Power- Power Transmission transmission of Elec- tricity- Electrical Engineering electric Railways Railway Machinery and Equipment sup- plies for steamship Marine- Marine and Naval Engineering warfare- Aerial warfare- Aerial Transportation transportation of troops Military- Military Engineering army navy water Hydraulic- Hydraulic Engineering water supply for towns Municipality- Municipal and Sanitary Engineering sani- tation of buildings Structures- Structural Engineering erection design- Architect Architecture and Fine Arts paintings, stat- uary and Miscellaneous works of art 108 ENGINEERING LITERATURE Technical Miscellany odds and ends con- trivances Inventions- Inventions, Patents, Law professional work Medicine- Medicine and Surgery the body the mind Philosophy etc., etc. This chain method of assisting the memory will find a parallel in the [repetition of a poem, for example. No matter how well one may know a poem, if asked to repeat the third verse, he would hesitate, but if he repeated the poem from its commencement, there would be no hesitation. It is merely the advancement from the known to the unknown, the sugges- tive power of what is in the mind to what im- mediately follows it, the mutual dependence of things on each other. In regard to numbers, dates, and other facts involving the remembrance of figures, the prin- ciples of relations may also be applied, but in a little different form. This may be illustrated by taking, for instance, the figures of the re- cently completed census. The population of the United States and its territorial possessions is given (1910) as 93,346,543. How may we fix this number in our minds? The following might be the general order of reasoning : 1. "We know that it is in millions and some- what less than the complete hundred million. Therefore there are eight figures in the num- ber. Divide these into three divisions repre- EXERCISING THE MEMORY 109 senting the hundreds, thousands and millions, as 93|346|543, and look for relations between the divisions, first. 2. We see that there are three 3's, one in each division. It is also seen that the sums of the figures in the different divisions are 12, 13, 12. Taking the first division; there are two figures only, one of which is 3, and the sum is 12, therefore the other must be 9. This places the millions at 93. Then taking the third di- vision, which has the same total, 12, we see that it, just as the first division, ends with its 3. The other two figures add to 9 and may be 90, 81, 72, 54, or the same numbers reversed. It is 54, a combination which makes with the last figure, a sequence reading from right to left, the right end being the known figure. 3. Now, consider the thousands division and note its relations to the others. The sum of the figures is 13, one of which is 3, leaving a possible combination of the others in order to make 10, of 91, 82, 64, or 55, or any of them reversed. Compare this division with the hun- dreds ; one commences with the 3 and the other ends with the 3 ; carry on the sequence of the last division and we get 6 for the last figure of the second division, and the middle figure, therefore, must be 4, which is also the middle figure of the last division. Again, comparing the first and the second divisions, we see that the two 3's come together, also that the sum of the first and last figures of the second divi- sion equals the other figure of the first division. This reasoning is given here in detail, but with a little practice the powers of observation are so quickened that the relationships are al- 110 ENGINEERING LITERATURE most instantly seen and in taking up any set of figures, the mind will instinctively look for them, and fix them in memory. The number is then remembered not as so many arbitrary figures, but as a lucid grouping, and in future revival of the impression, any one figure will recall all the others in their proper order, one after another, until the group is complete. It will surprise one who has not thus thought of numbers, to observe how relations may be es- tablished between the figures of almost any given number of four or more figures. Consider, for instance, the populations of the three American cities having over one million inhabitants New York, Chicago and Philadel- phia: New York 4,766,883. Note the arrange- ment of double 6 's and 8 's the sum of the first and last figures equals the second figure the second and third divisions each total 19. Chicago 2,185,283. Note the arrangement of the 1, 2, 3 the difference between the first and last figures of the third division equals the first figure of the second division, and the sum of the same figures equals the last figure of the second division and the middle figures of these two divisions are the same. Philadelphia 1,549,008. Note the relation- ship of the 9's first and last figures equal 9 first and second of the second division equal 9, which is the other figure of this division and total of all figures equals 27, 9 times the num- ber of divisions. EXERCISING THE MEMORY 111 Other relations will easily be found, but this will be sufficient to indicate the character of the relations that exist between figures, the observation of w r hich will assist in the study of even the most mathematical works. This underlying principle of the mutual de- pendence of things on each other, and ob- servation of the most prominent features, will assist in the recollection of a man's name from his style of dress, his size, appearance, office or employment; the name of an author from association with the title or character of his books; a date from association with something connected with the incident, etc. The associ- ation of ideas is of great importance and its practice will make it of valuable assistance in learning anything, but it does not do away entirely with the necessity of making written memoranda. Use these to save the exercise of the mind on the non-essentials, and back them up with the brain's record of the un- changeable essentials first making sure that these essentials and the relations between them are thoroughly understood, and are not stored away as a heap of facts without connection or order. PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS FOR PUBLICATION The vast quantity of new material on tech- nical subjects constantly appearing in the form of books and periodical articles is evidence of a growing tendency on the part of engineers toward literary work. Yet it is a fact that not one-half of the manuscripts submitted to pub- lishers are accepted and published, and it may also be noted that a very considerable portion of these offerings are the first efforts of their writ- ers in this particular form of composition. Some manuscripts show that much time and pains have been taken in their preparation, but a lack of acquaintance on the part of their writers with the elementary details of the pub- lishing business renders these efforts ineffect- ual, and results either in the rejection of the manuscript or in the necessity of editorial revi- sion and a consequent delay in its publication. On the other hand, some of these manuscripts are little more than hastily-written texts care- lessly thrown together, with a bundle of crude drawings, which certainly does not complete the initial stages of a book, nor form a welcome 112 PREFAB ATION OF MANUSCRIPTS 113 contribution, from the publisher's point of view. These facts show the desirability of an ex- planation of some of the principles that should govern authors in the preparation of their manu- scripts in order that they may gain literary recognition and that the profession may benefit by the information they convey. Before a manuscript is turned over to the printer it must have a title page, a table of contents or chapter heads, a copyright entry, a preface or an introduction, or both, and a list of illustra- tions, if they are of sufficient importance to warrant it. It must be standardized as to typo- graphical style, punctuation, capitalization, and orthography; paragraphs and other divisions, italicized words, and positions and titles for illustrations must be clearly indicated ; chapter- titles, sub-heads, section or paragraph topics, head-lines or ''box heads," etc., must be in- serted, and last, but by no means least, after the book is in type and made up into pages, a full and intelligently-made index must be provided. This work is known as "editing the manu- script." Besides these details it involves many others which necessitate a considerable knowledge of the technicalities of typography. It consists essentially of preparing the manu- script for the printer, that is, in preparing the "printer's copy," in which nothing must be 114 ENGINEERING LITERATURE left to conjecture. The printer is expected to follow copy exactly, practically his only free- dom of deviation being the correction of an obvious error in spelling, in the omission of a duplicated word, which has been accidentally left uncancelled, etc., and in the questioning of a wording or grammatical construction the query to be answered by the author in the proof corrections. Some publishing houses have their own estab- lished styles of typography and systems of orthography, etc., on which they insist, in order to obtain uniformity in all their publications, and in such cases, final "editing" is always done by the publisher. For instance, an author might write, "50-ft. span," where the pub- lisher's rule is "50-foot span," or the policy may be to print proper names referred to in the body of an article in small capitals, which would mean a double ruling under the name in the manuscript, for the guidance of the printer. This editing to conform with his established policy is a matter that the publisher expects and more or less of it must be done with every manuscript published by him be- fore it is given to the printer. But the larger matters, correct spelling, the indicating of paragraphs, punctuation, etc., are not the duty of the publisher and they should be done by the author. Such editing is costly labor and where there is a large amount of it done PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS 115 by the publisher at the request of the author, the cost must be eventually borne by the author, either directly by a cash payment for the time consumed, or indirectly, through the methods of payment of royalties. This ex- pense, and the incident delays, correspondence, and misunderstandings can often be avoided if the author edits his own manuscript after the completion of the creative work of the text, Sufficient has already been said regard- ing the importance of punctuation, spelling, and grammatical construction, so that the fol- lowing paragraphs may be devoted principally to giving a number of the more important principles involved in the preparation of the material for publication in book form, and tak- ing into account the special class of readers for whom this information is intended, atten- tion will be more especially directed towards compositions on technical subjects. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF WRITING FOR PUBLICATION In preparing a manuscript for publication, care should be taken To put the name of the writer on the first sheet. To use paper of uniform size. To number each sheet consecutively. To write on one side of the paper only, and across the narrow dimension of the sheet. To allow a margin at the left-hand side of the sheet. 116 ENGINEEKING LITEKATUKE To write plainly with black ink or to use typewriting. To space the writing for easy reading and editing. To make everything 1 understandable to all who are to handle the manuscript publisher, compositor, proofreader and yourself. As the manuscript will pass through many hands before the final proofs are corrected, it is well to select a paper of tough texture. White paper is always in place, but tinted papers yellow, orange, or other light shades are preferable, as they are better for the eyes of editors, compositors, proofreaders and others who will work over the sheets. A de- sirable size is 81/2x11 inches the ordinary busi- ness letter-head size. A margin of 1% inches should be allowed at the left-hand side of the sheet, %-in. at the top, and i/2-i n - at the bottom of the sheet. The sheets should be numbered consecutively* in the upper right-hand corner, and the author's name, or an abbreviated title of the book may be written on the upper left- hand corner but this is not an essential. Should it be found necessary, after writing a part of the work, to insert any considerable amount of additional matter, this matter should be written on separate sheets and given the same page number as the sheet it supplements, * Some writers and publishers prefer the numbering of individual chapters separately, in which case every chapter should have a key letter, appended to each sheet of that chapter (as, Ix, 2x, etc.) to prevent the sheets of different chapters from becoming- mixed. PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS 117 with an index letter, as 27A, 27B, etc. These sheets should be marked: "Insert at 'A' page 27, " etc., and the position of "A", "B", etc., should be indicated on the original sheet. If a complete page, or series of pages, is taken out, the page or pages should be accounted for by marking either the preceding sheet only, or both the preceding and the following sheets. Thus, if page 18 was cancelled, page 17 should be marked "17-18", and the following page would be marked 19 ; but if a number of pages as 18 to 26, inclusive, were cancelled, page 17 should be marked "17-26" and page 27 should be marked "18-27." When the manuscript is handwritten, black ink should be used never use pale ink. It should, however, be typewritten, if at all pos- sible on one side of the sheet only. The cost of typewriting is usually about ten cents per page (8%xll ins.) containing approximately 300 words, or only about $30 for a 300-page octavo book, allowing 25 per cent, of the space for illustrations. It pays to go to this expense. In this form the writer is better able to revise and perfect his manuscript, in- cluding its arrangement into sentences, chap- ters, and parts ; to indicate plainly the number and position of illustrations; and generally to present his material in such form as will reduce mistakes in typesetting and save time and ex- pense in revising and correcting proofs. It 118 ENGINEERING LITERATURE must be understood also that publishers, on re- ceipt of a manuscript, refer it to one or more readers who are qualified by special knowledge of the subject treated, to render intelligent opinions as -to the advisability of publication, and upon these appraisements, the destiny of the manuscript, so far as the house considering them is concerned, largely depends. It is, there- fore, of great importance that all possible be done by the author to present his work in the most favorable light, as a carelessly prepared manuscript, though good in material, often re- pels by its very appearance. Typewritten mat- ter possesses nearly all the advantages of a printed page, and can be read with a continuity of attention that is impossible to give to a manuscript in handwriting, however excellent the latter may be. And as it is this very un- interruptedness of consideration that is re- quired for properly estimating the value of a text, anything that will tend to secure it, is highly advisable. Nothing should be left to conjecture. Any part of the original manuscript that is heavily interlined should be rewritten, and in case of minor interlineations, care should be taken to insert them in their proper places in the body of the text, and not in the margin, as in the correction of proofs. It should always be re- membered that original manuscripts are not to EDITING MANUSCRIPT 119 be corrected with the marks used in correction of proofs, as given further on. The sheets should not be fastened together with pins ; if it is desired to fasten them at all, easily removable clips may bs used, and the sheets of each chapter fastened together sepa- rately. Finally, in sending the manuscript to the publisher, the sheets should not be rolled or folded. Ship them flat, with some stiff support, such as cardboard, in the package. Rolled packages are always difficult to open and it is almost impossible to make sheets lie flat after having been tightly rolled, and they are a nuisance to everybody who handles them. A small contribution to a periodical, consisting of two to ten pages only, might be folded once but not rolled. EDITING MANUSCRIPT FOR PRINTER These general principles might be supple- mented by some more specific directions for the preparing of "printer's copy" after the original work of writing the manuscript has been completed. It has already been said not to correct the manuscript as a proof. "Cor- recting" and "Editing" are different. Editing consists in the final preparation for the printer and it is important that this is properly done. One of the most costly items in bookmaking and one that seriously affects the profits, is 120 ENGINEERING LITERATURE that charged to "Author's Alterations," which are due mainly to improper or careless editing by the authors. It is the custom of all publishers to apportion the cost of corrections in the proof between themselves and the author. This must be done to protect them- selves from the excessive alterations made by some authors when they see their compositions in type, which would amount, in many cases, to the resetting of practically a whole chapter, or even of the entire work. This apportion- ment is made by a provision in the contract as, for instance : Any alterations made by the author after the work is in type, which exceed ten (10) per cent, of the cost of composition, shall be at the expense of the author. The cost of correcting errors of composition is never charged to the author; the compos- itor is responsible for these and corrects them at his own expense. But it will be found that, unless a writer has had some of this costly ex- perience, the expense of alterations made by himself will accumulate faster than he expects. This work is not charged for at the same rate as the original composition, but at a rate per hour for the time used in setting up the new material as well as in resetting old material made necessary by the alterations. To keep down this expense, the author should give at- tention to every detail and make his manu- PEEPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS 121 script as nearly perfect as possible before it goes to the printer. Author's alterations made in "galley- proof"^ involve resetting one or more lines only; in the "page-proof,"* they involve the same, plus the probable re-make-up of one or more pages; in the " plate-proof, " :f: they in- volve a cutting of the plate and insertion of the correction, with the consequent weakening of the plate, and often imperfect alignment in the printing, or it may involve the making of an entire new plate. These corrections can be made, but they should not be made, and almost invariably they lead to trouble. To avoid author's corrections and obtain the best results from the printer, observe the fol- lowing directions : 1. Writing. Write legibly. It avoids am- biguity and saves time of editor, compositor and proofreader. See that similarly written letters are not confounded. Be careful in writ- ing "n" and "u", "a" and "o", "r" and "v", "m" and "w", and in the capitals "I" and "J" the "I" is entirely above the line while the " J" extends half its length below it. When "1" and "t" come together, cross only the "t". Proper names should be printed to avoid incorrect spelling. Where mathematical expressions are employed they should be neatly * The distinction between the various proofs is ex- plained on page 277. 122 ENGINEERING LITERATURE and correctly printed with a pen, which applies also to manuscripts in typewriting. Inferior and superior characters (exponents, subscripts, etc.) should be indicated in their proper posi- tions and relative sizes. Confusion often arises from mistaking a hastily- written "1" for the minute sign ('), when used as a superior or inferior, and hurridly dashed off letters such as "1" and "I" occasion vexatious delays and the re-reading of previous matter in order to find out whether they are or are not "7," or "1." 2. Cancellations. In the re-reading of a manuscript, cancel any illegible word by draw- ing a stroke through it or a letter by draw- ing a downward oblique line through it, and rewrite the word or letter directly above the cancellation, inserting a caret where the word is to be inserted, or if there are sev- eral words, indicate their position for inser- tion by a curved line do not leave a word iso- lated among a lot of cancellations. If, after cancellation, you wish to restore a passage or word, underline it with a dotted line, and in the margin write stet, meaning "let it stand." Cancellations should be distinct sacrifice neat- ness for legibility make the compositor under- stand it, but be sure that you show clearly where the cancellation begins and ends. 3. Transpositions, If you wish to change the positions of two adjoining words, con- nect them with a curved line partly encircling EDITING MANUSCRIPT 123 the words, and in the margin write "tr" (transpose), or you can effect the same thing by writing above the words, 1 and 2, to indicate their proper order. Whole passages may be handled in the same general way. 4. Capitals and Type Variations. Com- mence every sentence with a capital. If you wish to capitalize a small letter, draw three short lines under it. "Where a sentence has been broken to form a new sentence, in- stead of rewriting the first letter of the new sentence with a capital, it can be capitalized by this underlining. Two lines under a word indicates SMALL CAPS ; three lines, FULL CAPS. One underlining indicates italics.* If a capita] is to be changed to a small letter, cancel the capital, and in the margin write "1. c." (lower case). Italic capitals are indicated by four lines, or by the three lines and "itals." written in the margin. (It is to be noted that marginal notes are to be made opposite the word to which they refer.) Care should be taken in the proper use of capitals in names of per- sons and places, and in technical terms, where necessary. Formulas are almost always set in italics, and it is not ordinarily necessary to indicate this otherwise than by the character of the handwriting employed. But it insures a thorough understanding of this and also when * In ordinary body matter use as few italics as pos- sible, as many printers do not have machines equipped to set italics with other type and its insertion by hand is expensive. 124 ENGINEERING LITERATURE isolated letters referring to such expressions occur in the body of the text, if they are un- derscored. A wavy line indicates boldface type, of which there are several varieties, and a double wavy line indicates BOLD-FACE CAPITALS. 5. Punctuation. Indicate commas, semi- colons, and colons clearly, and draw a small circle around every period that ends a sen- tence ; also wherever there is apt to be any un- certainty about the mark. Accuracy in the use of hyphens may be secured by using two small strokes instead of one. 6. Paragraphs and Sentences. In the manu- script, paragraphs should be indicated by indenting the first line about an inch in printed form, it is indented about a quarter of an inch. If this has not been done in the writ- ing, the paragraph can be indicated by using the sign (ft) before the word with which the paragraph is to commence, and underscoring the first letter for capitalization. Do not end a paragraph on the first or second line of a sheet ; it is far better to sqeeze the extra words or line on the bottom of the preceding sheet. Printer's copy is often divided among different compositors and this ending of a paragraph at the beginning of a sheet causes much annoy- ance. Divided words also cause trouble com- positors try to avoid cutting words at the end of lines by adjusting the spacing, and it EDITING MANUSCRIPT 123 should be avoided in the manuscript as much as possible. When a paragraph indentation that has been made in the writing is to be changed, connect the end of the preceding sen- tence and the beginning of the paragraph with a line, or write in the margin "No ft. " 7. Quotations. It is customary to print quoted correspondence, clauses, or paragraphs in a different style from that used in the main part of the text. Sometimes the same size type is used, but set "solid", and sometimes a smaller type is used. This may be indicated in a typewritten manuscript by single-spacing the writing of the part quoted, and in hand- writing, by a similar decrease in space between the lines. Another, and probably, the most ap- proved way, is to draw a vertical line down the left side of any matter to be set differently, and the style or size of type to be used, indi- cated in the margin beside this line. Com- monly a single vertical line indicates one size smaller type than the body of the text; a double line, two sizes smaller. It is customary, in all kinds of engineering construction, for the engineer to charge to esti- mates at the end of each month the quantity of material furnished on the ground and of work done. These estimates are approximate only and serve as a basis for making monthly payments to the contractor. It is customary to reserve from ten to twenty- five per cent, of these monthly estimates until the final completion of the work. By means of these monthly payments the contractor is enabled to carry on the work to final completion with a much smaller capital than would be required if no pay- ments were made until the work was finished. 126 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE To indicate the size and style of type prop- erly may necessitate a knowledge of type (see page 266) greater than could be given here, but the lack of this knowledge can be over- come by marking "larger type", "smaller type", "set solid", "heavy face", etc., ac- cording to the writer's ideas, and as a rule, the printer will grasp the idea, and use a suitable type. The first line of a quotation is gen- erally indented, and sometimes-it is desirable to indent the entire quotation, in which case, write "indent" in the margin. In quoting one or more words, enclose words in quotation marks (" "), and if quoting a misspelled word, or an expression in dialect, add a note in margin to "follow copy", otherwise the com- positor may correct the spelling. 8. Footnotes. Footnotes are used to give credit to authorities quoted in the text, or to explain the meaning of some word, etc. In the manuscript they should follow immediately after the matter to which they refer not at the bottom of the sheet. They should be en- closed between two lines drawn distinctly across the page, and referred to by a reference mark, as *, t, $. * f | Text of footnote, usually in smaller type than main text. When the footnotes are numerous, they should be marked by reference numerals in- stead of marks, as l , 2 , and in technical papers, EDITING MANUSCRIPT 127 where mathematical expressions are used, a half circle should separate them from the items to which they refer to prevent any pos- sibility of their being mistaken for powers or other superior characters. 9. Chapter and Section Titles. All titles should be so indicated by underscoring, according to their importance. For paragraph topics " side-heads", in alinement with the first type line of the paragraph, are generally used, and are set in Italics, bold-face type, or small capitals. For example: Two General Classes of Contracts. There are in general two kinds of contracts, namely: contracts made under seal, called sealed contracts or specialties **, and simple written or oral agreements unaccompanied with the formality of a seal, called parol contracts. Sometimes the topics are set in a "box", as below. The "box-head" is more expensive in composition than the "side-head" and is used less. Where it is desired it should be indi- cated by writing the words of the side-note in the margin, or at the side of the text, where it is to be set, and surrounding it by a square drawn with the pen. Example: At the present time there should be no diffi- culty in determining the relative values of stones for road purposes in any locality. Free The Office of Public Roads of the Govern- United States Department of Agri- ment Tests, culture undertakes to make tests and analyses of samples of stones, without charge, and to give advice as to their value for road-building purposes. 128 ENGINEEEING LITERATURE An even less common method is to print the notes in the margin instead of in the body of the text, and in line with the first line of the paragraph. This method is not common in books, but it is used to a considerable extent in specifications and in various forms of agree- ments. 10. Illustrations. These may be reproduc- tions of photographs or line drawings, as de- sired. Where possible, proofs of illustrations to be used should be obtained and pasted in approximately their proper places in the manuscript. Where proofs cannot be had, leave a space, in which mark "Here insert Figure ," and also mark the title of the illustra- tion. If cuts have not been made, send the original drawings, photographs, etc., with the manuscript but not attached to the sheets, and marked to correspond with the places where they are to go in the copy. It is advisable whenever possible, for the author to have the originals of these illustrations fully prepared for the engraver. To do this properly requires some knowledge of drawing and of the prepa- ration of photographs, etc., for the photo-en- graver, which subject has, therefore, been treated at some length on page 228. In send- ing original drawings and photographs to the publisher, care should be taken to keep them flat, as otherwise they may be broken or torn in transit so that reproduction is made difficult EDITING MANUSCRIPT 129 or impossible. It must be remembered that, as a rule, the book cannot be made up into pages until the cuts for illustrations have been sup- plied, so there should be no unnecessary delay in the preparation of the illustrations. If, how- ever, it should happen that one or two cuts arc still missing when the book is made up, the work need not be delayed, as if the exact sizes of the spaces that the illustrations are to occu- py are given to the printer, he will make up the page, leaving this space blank until the cut is supplied. This method should not be re- sorted to except where absolutely necessary, and should not be adopted in any case, with a large number of illustrations. It may be well for a contributor sending in an article descriptive of some building, ma- chinery, etc., to keep in mind the usefulness of familiar objects as a scale of measurement. Wherever in a photograph a man, boy, dog, tool, etc., is included, a scale of size may be based on this object, where in the absence of any such familiar object, it is often difficult to estimate sizes. 11. Abbreviations. As a general rule, words should be written in full or abbreviated, just as they are to be printed, but much time may be saved in writing a manuscript by the use of abbreviations for common words, which, when enclosed in a circle, are understood by the printer to be set in full. Thus, "Main St.," 130 ENGINEERING LITERATURE enclosed in a circle would be set "Main Street;" "Engr.", encircled, would be set "En- gineer." Conversely, "Main Street," enclosed in a circle, would be set "Main St." 12. Notes for Guidance of Printer. Should it be necessary to insert memoranda for the printer other than the marginal notes and corrections here outlined, they should be written in an ink of different color from the text matter. Should there be any considerable number of general instructions, it will save time and confusion if these are written on a single separate sheet to accompany the manu- script, and marked: "Notes for Printer," in- stead of repeating them throughout the manu- script. THE LITERARY FEATURES OF A BOOK The literary features of a book consist (and in approximate order) of Title, Copyright, Ded- ication (an optional feature entirely), Preface, Table of Contents, List of Illustrations (if sufficient to warrant listing), Introduction (op- tional, and usually considered as part of the Text, especially where the Preface is at all lengthy), Text (with or without illustrations), Appendix (an optional feature, usually consist- ing of material closely but indirectly related to the subject-matter of the book), and Index. Another item sometimes found, but always ob- jectionable, is the "Errata," consisting of er- rors discovered after the sheets have been LITERARY FEATURES OF BOOK 131 printed. An "Errata" sheet, when necessary, is inserted at the beginning of the book, just before the text matter, and is usually a sheet of same size as the book-page. It too often indi- cates careless proof-reading and is to be avoid- ed, whenever possible. An "Addenda" sheet is sometimes used to include some new matter brought to the author's attention after the printing of the sheets; it helps to bring the book up to date, and when it does so, is com- mendable. Of the literary features mentioned, the Ti- tle, Preface, Text, and Index are the only ones that should need any special discussion. Copy- right is treated on page 178. The Table of Contents is merely a list of the chapter-heads, sub-heads, etc., with page folios, arranged for the reader's easy reference, and if the subject matter has been properly divided and sub-di- vided, the compilation of the contents presents no difficulty. The List of Illustrations is mere- ly a list in the order in which the illustrations appear. 1. The Title. A Title should be brief. Years ago long titles were the custom, of which Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" is a good example, having thirty-eight words in the full title. Today, however, in all branches of liter- ature the short title is in favor. It is more eas- ily remembered* and referred to. No more words should be employed than are necessary 132 ENGINEERING LITERATURE to indicate the subject matter and the method in which it is to be treated. If it is found dif- ficult to observe this limitation of brevity, a keyword title should be selected, and the nec- essary amplification expressed in a sub-title. Such a title as ''The Principles of the Econom- ic Design of Electric Power Transmission Plants" is clearly undesirable from more than one standpoint. "Electric Power Plant De- sign ' ' is much preferable. ' ' Principles, " " Eco- nomic," and "Transmission" add nothing to the inscription. It is naturally to be expected that "principles" will be set forth in a work of this nature; that "economical" methods will be described and advocated, and that there will be "transmission" of the power generated, for practical uses. The make-up of the title-page should have careful consideration. 2. The Preface. The Preface is that por- tion of the book in which the author usually explains his purpose in writing it ; where he outlines his method of treatment of the sub- ject, and gives credit for his material to whom credit is due. Many reviews of technical books consist merely of a re-hash of the words or ideas of the Preface, and some authors, espe- cially those of the "hack" style, take advan- tage of this by making rather broad statements of what their books are or are supposed to be, and by indulging in considerable self-praise, in order to obtain good notices, with their con- LITEEAEY FEATUEES OF BOOK 133 sequent sales. The Preface should not, how- ever, be considered as an opportunity for this indulgence; the author should remember that he is addressing the public that is to be con- vinced of the worth of his publication. In this series of introductory remarks he should, there- fore, state in small compass the method of treatment accorded the subject matter of the work, setting forth any original features and the strong points it possesses which would war- rant its purchase by the class of readers likely to be interested. The fact that book notices almost entirely and book reviews to a con- siderable extent are based upon such prelim- inary recitals, should be borne in mind, also the needs of the individual in the publisher's sales department whose highly necessary duty it is to give effective publicity to the work, but, as stated, these facts should not be assumed by the author as an opportunity for self-glorifica- tion. In the Preface an author often acknowl- edges the assistance of some friend "in read- ing the proofs" mere drudgery. Why not have your friend read the manuscript and thus, if he has had any good suggestions to make, have the changes made before the manuscript is in type and save both time and money. In former days, it was customary to have a Pre- face written by some man of prominence as an introduction to the subject, and in many cases 134 ENGINEEBING LITEBATUKE the Preface was of far more literary merit than the body of the text, but now, such introduc- tory remarks are used as an "Introduction," and the Preface is reserved for the author's purposes. The Preface ought to be dated, as it becomes after a series of editions, each con- taining a supplementary preface, an important feature in the history of the book, or of the sub- ject treated. 3. The Text. In general arrangement it is a good plan to follow precedents set by ex- perienced writers and established publishing houses. There is scarcely a technical subject that can be written about that has not already received treatment at the hands of one or more authors, and while rigid adherence to pre- scribed forms is not advised or always advis- able, much valuable information concerning technic can be gained through an examination of the contents of books of a similar nature. This is especially so in regard to the division of the matter into Parts, Chapters, Articles, Paragraphs, etc., all of which should be clearly shown in the manuscript. In preparing tables the limitations of the size of the printed page and the type used should be considered. Inserts, or folded plates, should not be used if at all possible to do with- out them. The two page-sizes most favored are the "Octavo" (8vo.) and the "Duodec- imo" (12mo.) having respective type dimen- LITEEAEY FEATUEES OF BOOK 135 sions (excluding page headlines) of about 4 x 6^4 inches and 3%x5% inches, and trimmed page sizes of 6x9 inches and 5x7 inches. With usual size of type and spacing employed, an 8vo. page contains about 360 words and the 12mo. page about 280. It is easy, therefore, to approximately calculate* the number of pages that the text will occupy, and to this number should be added an estimate for illustration, and some 15 to 20 pages more for title, preface, contents, index, etc. As to style of composition, sufficient has al- ready been said to show that a clear, concise, and exact form of expression should be adopt- ed. Let the sentences be short and the state- ments free from ambiguities. There can be no fixed rule for the length of paragraphs and sen- tences. Sometimes a paragraph may consist of a single sentence; sometimes of an entire page or more. Likewise a sentence may con- sist of two words or one hundred words. It must have a subject and predicate, and its com- plexity and length consist in the modifications and qualifications attached to these. Study of the paragraphs and sentences of good writers will aid materially in a suitable division of the text, but as a rule, and especially for young writers, a good rule is to avoid long sentences.! * For a more exact system of estimation of space occupied, see page 270. t Frederick Harrison said "It is a good rule for a young writer to avoid more than twenty or thirty words without a full stop, and not to put more than two commas in each sentence, so that its clauses shall not exceed three." 136 ENGINEERING LITERATUEE Among standard writers, Bacon averaged 22 words to a sentence, and Milton 60.80 ; between these there are many variations. Variety in sentence forms is needed. The use of many short simple sentences and of straggling com- pound sentences where the statements are tied together loosely by Band's," "but's," "or's," " which V' "however's," " therefore 's, " etc., shows that the writer does not possess the nec- essary variety of forms in which to cast his thought. It should always be kept in mind that writers of technical books are supposed to have something to say that is of value to busy technical men, and it is well to say it in a clear and concise form. The "best style" is a pre- sentation of the subject in good, clear-cut Eng- lish, by one who thoroughly understands him- self, but who does not assume that all of his possible readers are equally well-informed. Naturally the treatment will depend somewhat on whether the author proposes to issue a book that will be useful to the beginner as well as to the more trained engineer or intends to ap- peal only to a small class of experts (see page 345). The single purpose of the book should be kept in mind at all times, and collateral dis- cussions, however inviting, should be limited to the strict necessities of the work. After the completion of the manuscript, it should be laid away for a few days, and then LITERARY FEATURES OP BOOK 137 reread; for it will often be found that state- ments made can be more happily phrased, and that certain words can be replaced by others more precisely expressing the ideas intended. Nearly everybody will realize that in both writ- ten and oral discussion of a subject, there is a tendency on the part of the author to expand his remarks in order to make himself thorough- ly understood, but that when these remarks are read over with the continuity presented in the completed manuscript, their content and spirit will be fully preserved while their wording may be greatly condensed and altered. 4. The Index. The preparation of a ser- viceable Index is a test of the author's good common sense. The Index is a very important part of the book, but unfortunately it is often very unsatisfactory and sometimes almost use- less. The secret of good indexing is the intelli- gent selection of keywords for each topic, words that are likely to suggest themselves to the seeker after information under the several topics, and that with this word selected, every reference under that head should be included. The writer should, as far as possible, endeavor to put himself in the position of the class of readers who are but just sufficiently qualified to take up his work and to derive benefit from it. He should devote careful study to each of the final page-proofs, and make all the entries in the Index to which he can conceive it possi- 138 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE ble that such readers will recur. This embraces suitable cross-indexing, the inclusion of cross- references and the sub-indexing of topics under others to which they may reasonably be con- sidered to be related. And, while it is desir- able to extend the limits of an index no more than is necessary, any doubt as to the propri- ety of a particular entry should be settled by its retention. The subject of indexing is more fully taken up on page 324. Much more could profitably be written un- der .each of the foregoing heads, but enough has been said to indicate to authors the advan- tages accruing to them from the proper prep- aration of copy; to show that thought and care expended in advance of the presentation of a projected book to a publisher, will be beneficial to themselves and to the publisher, and will likewise result in advantages to the buyer and the reader. SPECIFICATIONS FOR TEXT-BOOKS Many additional suggestions regarding the arrangement of the literary features of the book may be obtained from a study of the specifications presented by Prof. I. 0. Baker, in a paper read before the Society for the Promotion of Enginering Education, in 1895. Prof. Baker spoke of the difficulty in giving young men a general and also a professional education in only four years, and said that SPECIFICATIONS FOE TEXT BOOKS 139 the difficulties could be decreased by improv- ing the quality of the text-books, along the lines of the following specifications, which, he claimed, would apply in most particulars also to engineers' reports, contributions to the pro- ceedings of engineering societies and to engi- neering periodicals. His specifications, in condensed form, are : 1. The matter should be arranged in proper sequence. 2. The language should be clear, concise, and forceful. 3. The running titles and headlines should be so arranged that the reader can easily and quickly find any particular part. 4. Diagrams and figures, as far as possible, should be inserted at the most convenient place in the text, and be accompanied by a descrip- tive legend. 5. Folding plates should be placed at the end of the volume. 6. Folding plates should have a blank stub, such that when the plate is unfolded the print- ed matter will be entirely outside the body of the volume. 7. The several divisions should be indicated by the proper headings, and the minor sub- divisions (sections) should be numbered con- tinuously through the volume, chiefly for con- venience of cross-reference. 8. Cross-references should state also the page. 140 ENGINEERING LITERATURE 9. Attention should be given to the typo- graphical arrangement of mathematical formu- las. 10. The nomenclature should be suggestive of the quantity represented. 11. The nomenclature should be prominent- ly stated before being used. 12. Each table should have a serial num- ber, and a fully explanatory title at its head. 13. Tables should be divided horizontally by frequent lines. 14. Each horizontal line of a table should have a serial number. 15. The vertical major divisions of tables should be indicated by double rules. 1.6. The relative divisions of the several col- umns of the table should have consideration. 17. Matter of minor importance should be printed in finer type. 18. The book should have a very full index, with page references. 19. The collections of "useful tables " fre- quently printed at the close of the volume should be preceded by a list of titles. 20. The mechanical execution should be in keeping. XI " FIELD " AND "POLICY" OP TECHNICAL JOURNALS The primary purposes of any journal should be the production of revenue, and the secur- ing of a position of paramount influence in the field it represents. The attainment of this twofold aim depends upon the combined efforts of the business and the editorial depart- ments. On the latter depends the standing of the journal as a power in its field; to this de- partment the periodical looks for the supply and selection of literary material of a character useful to a certain class of readers. Here the business department steps in and through the circulation of the periodical among these read- ers, obtains advertising, on which the journal must depend for its main revenue, in fact, for its very existence. "We are not interested in the present work with the details of manage- ment of either the business or the editorial department, but it will be seen that the success of a periodical as an authority in any branch of literature and as an advertising medium is based on its literary pages, and this, in turn, shows the necessity of care and a definite policy in the selection of the material for publication. 141 142 ENGINEEEING LITERATUKE This editorial policy covers all features of the literary pages : the character of articles accept- able; the standards of quality; the acceptance, rejection, editing, and return of contributions; payments for contributions; abstracts and re- prints from lectures, papers, reports, etc., pre- sented at conventions and society meetings ; the illustrating of articles; the use of letters ad- dressed to the editor; reviews and notices of books; standardization of type and make-up of text pages, and many similar details. There are, perhaps, journals made up of a hotch-potch of clippings, without any literary excuse for existence, but every high-class and successful journal has a definite "Field" and "Policy," to which it rigidly adheres. The field is necessarily a development, depending upon the progress of the department of the profession to which the journal relates and upon varying commercial conditions. It is al- most as impossible for a journal to decide on the limits of its field at the commencement of its existence as it is for a college student to decide on the limits of his future work on his graduation day. In time, however, the journal "finds its level," and when that time arrives and a definite field and policy have been adopted and declared, the journal should show evidence of a consistent adherence to these principles. Acceptance and Rejection of Articles. No FIELD AND POLICY 143 journal can, of course, within the limits of its space, publish everything of interest re- lating to its specialty, but it should be the purpose of the editors to keep in touch with the whole range of information in that branch of the profession and. select for publication the best material that they can find relating to it. Writers frequently ask a periodical if an article on this or that subject is "in its line." As a rule, all articles connected with the de- clared field of the journal are directly "in its line," but whether they will be acceptable or not depends solely on the editor's judgment as to their interest and value to the readers. Editors are always pleased to receive contri- butions on any subject "in its line," from any source whatever. These are usually examined by the managing editor, and such as are found unavailable for use in any form are returned to the senders when such return is requested. Contributors should always specially request return of manuscript when this is desired, and especially of drawings and photographs. It is also well to send stamps with a contribution to cover cost of such return. (See page 212.) Editors will, as a rule, give an opinion as to whether an article on a given subject is likely to prove interesting, but the final acceptance of an article is seldom, if ever, made until the complete manuscript, with illustrations, has been submitted. 144 ENGINEERING LITERATUEE It is seldom that the receipt of material for publication is acknowledged, unless specially requested. Losses in the mails are so rare that it is not deemed worth while to incur the addi- tional labor of such acknowledgment, hence it is advisable to send a contribution by regis- tered mail, with request for receipt, or by express. In the case of contributions found unavail- able and returned to the sender, it is not cus- tomary for editors to state by personal letter the reasons which influence their decisions. The paper may be lacking in interest, or imper- fect in preparation, and it is not within the province of an editor to criticize the contrib- utor's work. He either accepts it or does not accept it. In the latter case a printed slip or letter usually accompanies the manuscript to the effect that the return of the article does not necessarily imply that it is lacking in merit or interest, but that the amount of matter offered for publication is so large, that a rigid selection has to be made and many articles have to be returned. Some years ago this printed note brought an indignant reply from a "Scientist" who had offered a manuscript in which he claimed to have upset an established engineering formula that had been in universal use for half a cen- tury. A portion of this letter read as follows : "The return of my paper by means of a FIELD AND POLICY 145 printed blank, looked to me so mean and insulting, that I concluded to avoid being reminded of the insult, by henceforth con- sidering " ' as non-exist- ent. * * * It is hard for an old scientist to have his work judged of in private by newlings, but harder yet to have it done by printed blanks. The rudeness of it must make enemies unless my nature is all different from that of others." Naturally, any journal would regret to be considered as " non-existent, " but for the reasons above stated, the printed forms are still used by all high-class journals and they all thereby run the risk of making enemies of contributors like the "old scientist" just quoted. Trade " Write-ups. " What has been said with reference to the offer and return of manuscripts applies especially to papers that are submitted for publication and for which their writers expect compensation, but the general principles of consideration ap- ply also to all classes of contributions. Edi- tors are frequently asked, for example, what their position is in reference to what are commonly known as "trade write-ups." This is a matter regarded from widely varying points of view by different periodicals. The higher class journals seeking to give real in- formation to their readers apply the same gen- eral rule regarding selection to this as to other 146 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE material that the first consideration is the interest of the reader. The fact is generally recognized that outside of " Civil Engineering" in professional work, the great bulk of the con- structive engineering work that is carried on in this country is done by manufacturing firms. It is to them therefore that editors have to look, chiefly, for a great deal of matter of interest and practical value to engineers, and contributions from such firms are always wel- comed, but they must be judged on the same basis as those from any other source. If a manufacturer has a new machine or device of interest to engineers, and will furnish a peri- odical such drawings or particulars concerning it as will enable an engineer to form a judg- ment as to its merits, the editors can often prepare an article that will be of great prac- tical value to many of their readers. On the other hand, if the manufacturer sends in a cut of a machine which shows nothing except what a wood-engraver imagines its external appear- ance to be, and a so-called description which, in reality, is only a string of vague generalities concerning what he considers its merits, he has no cause for complaint at the editors' decision that such matter is not of sufficient interest to their readers to warrant their giving it space. This sort of descriptive article is commonly known as a "write-up." It is as a thorn in the editor's side. It is produced for commercial FIELD AND POLICY 147 purposes only, with nothing of professional interest about it, and it does not deserve to rank as technical literature. There are papers that consist almost entirely of such material mere bundles of circulars that have filled the requirements of the law and have obtained the second-class mail rating. But the " write-up periodical" is not recognized in the ranks of high-class journalism. The "write-up" is a scheme to get something for nothing; to get a little more publicity than an advertiser pays for, or to get publicity without paying for it at all, and further to get this publicity under the stamp of a journal's editorial commenda- tion of the article described. The advertiser pays his money for the privilege of addressing the audience reached by the periodical, and is not entitled to be specially boosted in the pages for which the subscriber pays his money with the expectation of receiving reliable engineer- ing information.* Correspondence. A department of many jour- nals which is often much appreciated by its readers is devoted to "Correspondence" or "Letters to the Editor." The object of this department is to provide a place for the open discussion of matters of interest to readers. It should be conducted with entire impartiality and contributors should have perfect freedom *This matter is so important and so generally abused in technical literature, that I have quoted an edi- torial on the subject on page 158. 148 ENGINEERING LITERATURE in the expression of their opinions concerning such current questions as may interest them, whatever their views or opinions may be, pro- vided, of course, that their letters come under the rule above stated, namely, that they are matters of general interest to the readers of the journal. In cases where readers criticize the work of some person or firm, and the letter is judged by the editor to be worthy of publication, it is a usual practice to submit an advance proof of the letter to the party who is criticized and afford him an opportunity to reply in the same issue in which the criticism appears. In all such discussions, it is naturally expected that those taking part will observe the usual cour- tesies of debate and refrain from libellous or insinuating personalities. If that point is reached, or when the debate has reached a point where it lacks general interest, the editor will summarily close it by refusing to publish further correspondence. Contributors are always at liberty to veil their identity under noms-de-plume if they choose in the. publication of matter; but in writing to an editor they should always give their real names ; otherwise the waste-basket is the inevitable end of their contributions. One would suppose that the standing rule of all reputable publications that "No attention can be paid to anonymous communications" would FIELD AND POLICY 149 at this day be well known to all intelligent men. Yet editors regularly receive letters signed by fictitious names. If the writers of such letters would imagine themselves in the place of the publishers they would readily per- ceive the necessity of this cast-iron rule and the reasons why such letters or the information they contain cannot be published. Also letters are frequently received by editors containing items of news for publication when it seems evident that the writer omitted to sign his name merely from modesty or carelessness. He did not reflect that without an authoritative signature the news lacks all authority. Such items would not be published by any newspa- per, so surely not by a publication which aims at accuracy and reliability, as does the average technical journal. There is much misapprehension in the minds of readers as to the degree to which editors assume responsibility for the matter published in the various departments of a journal. To make this clear, it may be said that the matter published in the editorial pages, and in fact, all matter not signed or otherwise credited to some source, may be understood to be prepared by the editors ; the contributed matter and the matter taken from proceedings of engineering societies represent the views and opinions of those to whom it is credited, and not neces- sarily the opinions of the editors. It may be 150 ENGINEERING LITERATURE assumed that all such material has been exam- ined by the editors, and has been judged by them to be of sufficient interest to be worth publication; but it does not follow that they approve of or agree with the ideas or opinions which the writer may express. In the ''Corres- pondence Department," especially, it should be the aim to give a fair field to all who have something to say that is worth saying, whether it coincides with the journal's opinions or not. The responsibility that could be assumed by the editors in this department is limited to that of seeing that every correspondent practices the ordinary courtesies of controversial discus- sion ; that personalities are eliminated or modi- fied, and that the time of the paper's readers is not consumed to the exclusion of more valu- able matter by trivial subjects or long-drawn- out disputes. To "edit" these letters beyond this point, and particularly to select and trim them to suit the opinions of the editors, would result only in dispossessing them of any value they may have as individual expressions of opinions. Neither would it be fair for editors to support either side in a controversy. This defining of the extent to which an ed- itor's responsibility extends should not be mis- understood as magnifying the importance of an editor's own opinions. Editors are generally well aware that they are far from infallible; in fact, they are probably better aware how FIELD AND POLICY 151 far their work falls short of whatever high standard they may have set for themselves, than are any of their readers. But an editor of a reputable periodical is, as a rule, at least conscientious in adhering to the principles that have been outlined of impartiality and con- sistency to the interests of his readers and of the profession represented by his journal. Personals. There is no department, perhaps, in which a journal is more dependent upon its readers for assistance, than that of "Per- sonals." This is usually a very brief sum- mary of items of personal interest concern- ing people connected with the profession, and to get these items a journal must rely on its readers to furnish the necessary information. What should be especially de- sired as matters of interest to the profession or trade and what readers should send in are notices of appointments and changes in official positions, but under ordinary circumstances, few periodicals can afford the space for noting reelections and reappointments. As this de- partment is one of information only and is not conducted to advertise the business of any indi- vidual, such items should be excluded as are mere records of ordinary professional engage- ments of consulting engineers. As a typical example of a formulated policy regarding the selection of matter for publica- tion, and of policy regarding style (typograph- 152 ENGINEERING LITERATURE ical, etc.) adopted in the make-up of the text matter, there follows below, a reprint of an edi- torial in "Engineering News" covering the se- lection of matter for publication in that peri- odical, and on page 289, rules for the make-up of the text matter. SELECTION OF MATTER FOR PUBLICATION (Reprinted from an editorial in ''Engineering News," April 24, 1902.) The frequency of requests from manufac- turers, advertisers and others for the publica- tion in this journal of articles descriptive of tools, machinery, apparatus, etc., has caused the preparation of the following explanation of our policy with reference to such articles : I. The selection of all matter for publication in the reading matter pages of Engineering News is made solely on the basis of its interest and value to the readers. This journal has no "deadhead" list. Its subscribers pay five dol- lars a year for their paper and are entitled to receive the best matter that the editors can select. To make this selection on any other ground than the readers' interest to publish this article to please a personal friend, that to please an advertising patron, the other for some form of payment, direct or indirect is essentially to defraud the subscriber. SELECTION OF MATTER 153 The article which is chosen for such ulterior reasons might be in itself comparatively harm- less; it might be so well written that not one reader in a thousand would notice it to be below the standard usually maintained in this journal ; yet if the principle is once established that articles may be selected for publication for other reasons than their actual value to the reader, the road downhill is an easy one. If one advertiser is given a "trade-write-up." an- other must have a "reading notice." It is a short step from that to the direct sale of space in the reading matter pages as part of an ad- vertising contract, and another short step to the publication of paid puffs to help one com- petitor and paid blackmailing articles to injure another. This is the reason why our rule that the readers' interest, and that alone, must govern in the selection of articles, is rigidly main- tained. II. A very large part of the important and in- teresting engineering work of the present day is being done in connection with manufactur- ing establishments. The published description of this work may be and often is an exceed- ingly valuable advertisement for the parties interested. This fact, as stated above, is no reason why we should give space to it in 154 ENGINEEKING LITEKATUKE Engineering News; but on the other hand, it is no reason why we should exclude it. What we are after is what will interest our readers. If the publication of an article benefits some- body or other as an advertisement, so much the better. The editors of Engineering News, therefore, receive and examine with great care matter submitted by manufacturers, advertisers, and others descriptive of new devices, machinery, tools, plant and methods of doing work, and selection is made from this matter solely on the basis of what the editors believe to be the interest of the readers. Thus the " trade- write-up " is judged on the same basis as the original contribution of a practicing engineer, or the paper read before an engineering soci- ety. The better the article which the manu- facturer submits, the better its chances of ac- ceptance. It must be remembered that the amount of matter offered to the editors, and from which they must make their choice, is many times as great as the pages of Engi- neering News can contain. Obviously a great deal of matter has to be rejected, not because it is not good, but because it does not rank among the best. III. The conditions of publication are often of importance in determining the acceptance or SELECTION OF MATTEE 155 rejection of an article. The " trade- write-up" which is sent out broadcast to all sorts of trade journals is .pretty sure of rejection. That which is sent out for simultaneous publication in a limited list of papers stands a little better chance, but if accepted it will generally be given briefer space than it would receive were we given the first opportunity of publication, or were the article given to us exclusively. IV. Not only for the sake of securing its accept- ance, but for the sake of holding the interest of the largest number of our readers, it is worth while to take much pains in the prep- aration of matter to be offered to Engineering News. Where matter is to be submitted by a manufacturing establishment we would coun- sel its preparation by the engineering depart- ment rather than the advertising department. What we want, and what our readers want, is not ''glittering generalities" but plain state- ments by the practical men of how engineering problems have been solved. For illustrations, we prefer drawings or blue-prints and good photographs, from which we can prepare our own cuts. Y. Final decision as to whether an article of- fered to us will be accepted, cannot be made until the completed article is placed in our 156 ENGINEERING LITERATURE hands. We will give an opinion, however, on request, as to the probabilities of an article on a stated subject being acceptable. Matter found unavailable for use will be returned, if return is requested. VI. As a rule, new inventions, machines, etc., are not described until they have been actually built and practically operated. Exception to this rule is made only in case a device is of unusual interest and is of such a character that its merits can be fairly judged from the de- scription and drawing. It may be added that this rule works to the benefit of the inventor. It is a mistake to rush into print with the de- scription of a device until it has actually taken concrete form, and until actual experience can be quoted in support of the claims made for it. VII. "We pay cash for original contributions to Engineering News. Articles prepared by our own staff on the basis of information furnished by manufacturers are of course not paid for, under ordinary circumstances. No articles are paid for unless furnished exclusively to us, and in the submission of matter by manufac- turers it should be explicitly stated whether any prior publication has been made, and, if so, where. (Mention in trade catalogues should SELECTION OF MATTER 157 not be omitted.) It should also be stated whether exclusive publication is offered to us or whether the matter is to be given to other journals, with full particulars. VIII. The editors lay no claim to infallibility of judgment or infinite knowledge. They may often err in their selection of matter by accept- ing the poorer and rejecting the better. More- over, they have to be governed by conditions of which the outsider knows nothing. Avail- able space and current interest in a particular line may often cause the acceptance of an arti- cle which is in other respects not so good as other articles which meet with refusal. The demands on the time of the editors are such that they cannot undertake to state in detail the reasons which govern their decision to ac- cept or reject any article. IIX THE " WRITE-UP" ARTICLE (Reprinted from an editorial in "Mining and Scien- tific Press," of Dec. 26, 1908.) The exploitation of a manufactured product in the guise of reading matter is called a "write-up." It is not a literary word and it does not represent literature ; it is the ex- ponent of a commercial idea in the guise of scientific or technical information. In the daily press you find yourself read- ing a paragraph that begins with a seductive reference to the "grandeur that was Greece or the glory that was Rome" and ends by recommending Snook's soap. In the financial press you become absorbed in a picturesque account of South African mining only to dis- cover that you have been inveigled into a con- sideration of the opportunity for sudden wealth presented by the shares of the Great Bullion Extended Mining Co. in southern Nevada. In a technical paper you plunge into a turbid description of pumps and their work in mines, to find that the purpose of the article is to recommend the Jones centrifugal pump manu- factured by the Jones Co., of Jonesville, Tenn. If you are good natured, not too busy, and possessed of a sense of humor, you laugh at 158 THE WRITE-UP ARTICLE 159 yourself as the victim of a practical joke; if, however, your liver is sluggish, or you are a busy man, or do not appreciate foolery, you kick yourself for being deceived and there is developed a longing to express your sentiments to the responsible editor. Undoubtedly, the "write-up" is in the nature of an impertinence. But beside the cruder forms of this insidious method of gaining publicity without payment, there are unaffected descriptions of manufac- tured products that appear in trade and tech- nical papers. Thus the write-up becomes a specious indorsement of one advertiser's wares at the expense of the other advertisers, and eventually it is to the detriment even of the favored individual. For it is obvious that if a "write-up" is not as trustworthy as matter coming from an unprejudiced source, then it lessens the interest of the reading portion of the paper and renders the advertising less valu- able.* There is no escape from this conclusion. The representative of a machinery firm brings a description of his works, with a photo- graph of the establishment, and wants it pub- lished as reading matter. The sight of it in the paper may gratify the members of that particular firm, but it is certain that it is of value to no one else, for the products of manu- facture do not depend for their excellence on the appearance of the building in which they are made. Moreover, the insertion of such an 160 ENGINEEKING LITERATUKE article is not fair, for the advertiser is simply asking for so much gratuitous advertising in a part of the paper where he thinks he may get exceptional publicity. The reader is an- noyed, for the "write-up" is not of interest to him; he does not rate Smith's pumps by the look of Smith's factory. It comes to this, that anything which lessens the interest of the reading pages tends to hin- der the purpose of the advertising ; protect the reader and you safeguard the advertiser, for no one that has become annoyed or displeased with the reading matter is likely to spend much time over the advertisements; on the contrary, it is the satisfactory character of the articles that will cause a reader to hold a paper in his hands long enough to turn over the pages of advertisements. But we shall be told that there are write-ups and write-ups; that what we have said may apply to certain forms of this method, but it does an injustice to the skillful write-up, which gives reliable information while incidentally fulfilling another purpose. This is a matter of opinion. Even the best of the stuff sent broad- cast by the publicity bureaus of manufacturing companies is prejudiced; among the facts lurk fallacies ; betw r een the scientific data are sand- wiched the exaggerations of a salesman. It may be a long way from the fervid rot of a corn doctor to the pseudo-scientific literature THE WEITE-UP ARTICLE 161 of a publicity manager, but there is every gradation between them and they are tainted by the same fatal defect. It is the editor's duty to protect his reader; in so doing he advances the best interests of the advertiser, for by such methods the ad- vertiser is given the best opportunity to win the attention of the reader. For this reason the signed article that masquerades as an in- dependent statement, while really the puff of an advertiser, is particularly objectionable. Not content with self-laudatory paragraphs, some manufacturing firms employ technical men to write articles for publication, in which the principles underlying certain types of ma- chinery are specially advocated, so as to pre- pare the way for the reception of a recom- mendation of the machines themselves. Of course, there is no reason why the inventor or the manufacturer of a machine should not tell the truth in an interesting way, and it happens often that information concerning pro- cesses and devices can be obtained only from such sources. In that case, the position of the author should be frankly stated; it cer- tainly would be deemed a courtesy to the reader and would tend to inspire confidence. Any feature of the reading pages that wins the confidence or commands the respect of the reader, by so much increases the value of the service given to the advertiser. 162 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE Is this Utopian and impracticable ? We trust not. It is sound business, not poetry. The practice of recommending mining stocks and puffing companies in the editorial columns be- cause they advertise their prospectuses on an- other page has died out in America, that is, among the journals of any standing. In Lon- don the mining papers are still subventioned in various ways; the mining company pays for an account of its meeting, for the publication of reports, for reprints of the speech made by its chairman, and for sundry other ways in which it gets favorable publicity; the papers distribute praise or blame, or maintain an omi- nous silence, according to the amount of ad- vertising taken with them. Paid matter ap- pears in the heart of the reading pages, the right hand watches the left, the business de- partment and the editorial are partners in a sordid business. And what is the result? The advertising pages have scarcely any value. Why? Because the reading matter is unre- liable. There you have it. In America the leading journals do not in- sert paid matter in their reading pages, and the only blemish is the "write-up," which is a sop to Verberus, the donation of extra pub- licity gratuitously to those who advertise, or are expected to advertise, in the paper. This reminds us of a petty form of ' ' graft ' ' operated in connection with write-ups. A firm that does THE WRITE-UP ARTICLE 163 not advertise with you will send a write-up "because it is interesting" and it will have the cheek to ask you to publish it to the end that its products may be advertised free. This does an injustice to the advertiser that pays. The excuse to be made for the "write-up" is that it is a courtesy to a client, a concession to one with whom you are doing mutually profitable and honorable business, therefore when a non-advertiser asks for advertising space in your reading pages he exhibits monu- mental effrontery. Your reader does not even have the satisfaction of turning to the adver- tising pages for further information. A young man obtained a testimonial as to his ability from his own mother. That is the "write-up" in its simplest form interesting to the family ! XIII RIGHTS OF AN AUTHOR IN HIS WORKS Literary Property. The general term used to express the ownership which an author has in his works, without reference to the point whether he claims it under the protection of a copyright or not, is "Literary Property," which accordingly, includes the ownership of unpublished or manuscript w r orks, letters, etc. It is generally recognized that if a person composes a literary work, and does not choose to publish it, it is still as much his property as is his real estate. He may not have legal rights simply in his ideas, but he does have a title to them consid- ered in reference to the outward form in which they are clothed. This feature of common law protects an author from improper use of an original manuscript sent to a publisher or printer. In case of any improper use of his property the regular legal remedies for the violation of rights of property would be appli- cable, and the usual incidents of property would attach; still, for special reasons, such unpublished writings cannot be taken by cred- itors in payment for debts. An owner of this kind of property can sell it or dispose of it by 164 EIGHTS OF AUTHOR 165 will, or it may pass to his representatives at his death in the ordinary course of succession. The rights of an author in a letter addressed by him to a correspondent have been fre- quently considered by courts of justice, with the general decision that, while the author parts with the paper on which the letter is written, he still retains an ownership in its sentiments and expressions. By this divided ownership the receiver is entitled to the letter considered only as an autograph, while if he publishes the contents, he may be pursued by an action in court. The ownership of the re- ceiver is corporeal, that of the author is incor- poreal. In the same way if an author should address in writing a poem or other literary work to a friend, a distinction between the ownership of the paper and the poem would immediately spring up. This rule does not apply only to letters having a literary charac- ter, as such distinction could not be made and maintained, so that in general a letter or other literary production cannot be published by its receiver or any other person without the con- sent of the author, unless it may be to vindi- cate the receiver's character or to subserve the ends of public justice. On the other hand, it is clear that an author of a manuscript may absolutely lose all pro- prietory rights of it by printing it and placing copies on sale without obtaining copyright. 166 ENGINEERING LITERATURE It is then considered as dedicated to the public and becomes equally the property of any one who wishes to use it, and cannot be copyrighted in its original form by either the author or any one else. Literary property may, in this state of ownership, be assigned, as is often done by a publisher's purchase of a manuscript from an author. This gives rise to a distinction be- tween an author and a mere proprietor, a dis- tinction constantly referred to in the copyright law. The sale of a manuscript will, unless specific stipulations are made to the contrary, give the purchaser all rights which the author of it, considered as an unpublished work, would possess. Whether the purchaser could take out a copyright or not would depend on special conditions based upon the provisions of the copyright statutes. Copyright. By the term "Copyright" is meant an exclusive right given by statu- tory law to an author or proprietor to multiply copies of his work and place them on sale. Without this statutory pro- tection the act of publication would be regarded by the courts as an act of dedication of the work to the public, and accordingly de- structive of the author's right of property. The policy of the copyright law is to give the author or proprietor protection in the sale of his work for a specified period, and then to EIGHTS OF AUTHOR 167 throw its publication open to all. This theory is marked out in the United States Constitu- tion, which gives power to Congress to secure to authors the exclusive right to their works for "limited times." The whole subject is under the control of Congress, and any legisla- tion of a State affecting copyright would be inoperative and void. The result is that if an author does not choose to publish, his right to his manuscript is perpetual, and may be vindi- cated in courts of law on general principles of justice ; if he prefers to publish, he brings him- self within the purview of the law of Con- gress, must have his right only for such time as the statute provides, and must seek his rem- edies exclusively in the United States courts. A digest of the new copyright law is given on page 178, but it may be said here that in general anything may be copyrighted that is the sub- ject of literary ownership. More specifically, the term "Copyright" is used applied to books, maps, charts, dramatic or musical composi- tions, engravings, cuts, prints, photographs and their negatives, paintings, drawings, chromos, statues, statuary, and models, or designs in- tended to be perfected as works of fine art, and in determining whether one of the sub- jects can in any particular case be copyrighted, it is necessary to consider how far it is original with the professed author. There are some compositions of such a profound or intellectual 168 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE character that the question of originality can- not successfully be raised. On the other hand, there are works of a much humbler sort, but still of a highly meritorious and useful nature, compiled from material already existing in lit- erature, and open for public investigation and use, and in which the only original feature is in the selection, arrangement, or combination of this material. Instances of this kind are found in every department of engineering work as well as in such works as grammars, arith- metics, geographies, maps, charts, etc. These, as far as they are the work of the compiler or author, are the subjects of copyright, but he has no exclusive right to the materials which he did not originate. Any other person may resort to them and prepare a work from them, but he must not make use of the copyrighted book as a mode for collecting his materials. His correct course is a resort to the original sources of information. An illustration of these principles may be drawn from the collapse of the Quebec Bridge and its subsequent investi- gation. A writer could have no copyright in the opinions and findings of the commission, as of these he is not the author, but he could lay claim to a statement of the facts of the case, as well as to an abstract of the opinions prepared by himself. The translator of a for- eign work not the subject of a copyright here may have a copyright, as he is for practical EIGHTS OF AUTHOR 169 purposes an "author"; still, any other person may translate the same work and have himself a copyright. It follows, therefore, that there can be no copyright in a subject, but only in the means of treating it. For example, one can- not obtain in this way the exclusive right to make maps of a particular town or section of country, though he might acquire one as the result of his own labor and surveys, say, as a consulting engineer. The word "book" as used in connection with copyright, has a wide meaning it is not re- stricted to volumes, but may include a single sheet. An individual issue of a periodical is a "book." There can be no copyright in a mere title unconnected with a book, but where a title is used to designate a work, particularly a periodical, it may become of great value. Such a title constitutes part of the ' ' good will ' ' of trade and may be considered as a property right. Its registration and protection are pro- vided for by the laws appertaining to "trade- marks." As already stated, the property in a copy- right is of an incorporeal nature. It cannot, for example, be seized by a sheriff and sold on an execution. Should the sheriff, for instance, sell, in this way, the plates of a copyrighted book, the purchaser would only acquire a title to the copper-plates, considered as material ob- 170 ' ENGINEERING LITERATURE jects, with no right to print copies of the book from them. Infringement of Copyright. The leading questions in the law of copyright concern infringement. The fact that a copyright is of an exclusive nature necessarily gives the author or proprietor a cause of action against one who infringes his right by placing copies on sale. Infringement is a very plain matter when the copyright work is simply reproduced. It becomes a complicated and difficult question when only extracts or quota- tions are made, or when resort is had to the book to make the public acquainted with its contents or to criticize its style or the sub- stance of its thought. It has long been estab- lished that the identity of a literary work con- sists in its ideas and its language. The thought is so associated with the form in which it is expressed that a copyright does not protect an author against the use of his thoughts in a substantially different form, and it is for this reason that by general rules of law the unau- thorized translation into - another language is no infringement. Though the sentiment re- mains, the form is changed. On similar grounds, an abridgment, though made without the author's consent, is no infringement. This consists of a condensation of the author's lan- guage, and is substantially a different work. Where there is no such change, it is an abuse RIGHTS OF AUTHOR 171 of language to call the new work an "abridg- ment." The question arises as to how far ex- tracts or quotations may be made from a book without infringing. It is not generally regarded as an infringement to quote from a book for purposes of review, but when such quotations are made, the main question is whether they are calculated to show the char- acter of the original work. The critic must not go so far as to substantially publish the copy- righted work. The question is really one of the value of the extracts made, which must be determined by the facts in each case. It is not satisfactory to consider merely whether there was an intent to infringe or steal. The real point is: has the author sustained substantial injury? The same general rule must be ap- plied to other cases where extracts are made. There is a marked distinction between a true abridgment and a compilation, considered as an exact reproduction of material. In the for- mer, as has been said, there is a real and sub- stantial condensation of the materials, which has been made with intellectual labor and judgment. In a compilation, however, there is assumed an act of taking the very words of an author, or with such slight changes as to show a close imitation. The law permits the condensation but does not permit the copy- ing of the author's words to such an extent 172 ENGINEERING LITERATURE as to do him substantial injury. Compilation is to some extent permitted in works when the main design and execution, or presentation of the subject is novel, and especially in dic- tionaries, gazetteers, cyclopedias, guidebooks, etc. In works of this class the materials must to a certain extent be the same. Novelty and improvement in them consist principally in abridgment, changes in arrangement, more modern information, correction of errors, etc. It is scarcely necessary to add that an in- fringement takes place by publishing but a small portion of the work, if that be a vital part and causes a substantial injury to the proprietor. The remedies for the violation of a copy- right are to be sought in the federal courts, and an appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court without reference to the amount in con- troversy. The regular remedies are an action for damages or an injunction preventing the continuance of the infringement, and as inci- dental to this the courts may direct an ac- count to be taken of the profits realized by the infringer. Severe penalties and forfeitures are also imposed by statute law upon persons who wilfully and knowingly violate the pro- visions of the copyright acts. (See page 190.) BIGHTS OF AUTHOR 173 GIVING CREDIT FOR DRAFTS ON THE LITERARY WORK OF OTHERS What has been said above regarding the use of the literary work of others, refers to the rights of an author in his copyrighted work, but another phase of the subject is found in the use of uncopyrighted material, which may be said to be a matter of ethics. In every technical article of value, if the author has studied the available information upon his subject, frequent use is made of ma- terial which has been previously published. The experienced writer, in such cases, always gives proper credit, either in a prefatory note or in the text, to the source of his information. There have appeared, however, at various times, books in which whole pages of text and numerous drawings have been either cribbed entirely or reproduced from apparent altera- tions. Frequent unfavorable comments have been made upon such practices, but as they have not appeared to be fully understood by some writers, " Engineering News" recently outlined in an editorial* what it considered to be the ethics of literary production, from which the following notes have been abstracted: As a first principle in any literary work, technical or otherwise, the laws of honest deal- ing require an acknowledgment of borrowed matter. As has been said already, a man's literary productions are as much his property * November 14, 1907. 174 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE as his real estate, and where these are pro- tected by copyright their right is secured to the owner, as effectively as his house and lot is by a deed or title. When such legal protec- tion is not invoked, as in the case of the greater part of periodical technical literature, it is because the authors or editors think that the matter may be of general interest, and for that reason, those so desiring it should not be put to the trouble of obtaining specific per- mission to reproduce it. The absence of such legal requirements does not change the owner- ship of the material or remove from the author the right to be credited for his labor. There are many men whose only aim in literary production is to disseminate knowl- edge. Such men have no especial personal pride in their work, except for the work's sake, and are indifferent as to the proper recog- nition by others who copy their material, so long as the theory which they have evolved or the information they have collected is given to the world. In such cases the burden of responsibility rests upon the one who copies. Any unacknowledged statement in a book is assumed to be the work of the author, and, even if the originator is indifferent, the one who repeats it owes it to himself to disclaim the authorship and to give credit where credit is due. It is a poor sort of a man who parades another man's work as his own. BIGHTS OF AUTHOR 175 But aside from the attitude of common hon- esty there is a phase of the matter equally as important if not so obvious, which holds in technical reproductions. That is the necessity of pinning every fact down to its original source so that the future investigator can have the benefit of original research, if he so de- sires. The technical periodical is an expres- sion of the growth of the profession it repre- sents. More than any technical book does it contain the working out of the daily problems of some branch of technology. It is the ex- change place of new ideas. Necessarily from time to time certain men, better versed in a particular branch than their fellows, feel called upon to write a book upon that subject. This book will be a compilation of the results of the author's experience and study, which study must be largely from the experiences of other men, recorded in some printed form. No man can cover in his own experience the entire ramifications of any subject, however small it may be. Therefore he must draw on the peri- odical publication which is the principal medi- um through which past experience may be given out, and as the matter there published must be more detailed and discursive than can be compacted into the narrow confines of a general treatise, he can only draw in part or in abstract. However, the student may care to go further in his special investigations than 176 ENGINEERING LITERATURE the author could publish in his book. To bring his book, therefore, to its highest use, it is incumbent upon the author to record every authority and reference, to label the source of every piece of knowledge other than those of the most general nature. It is understood, of course, that the line must be drawn some- where or else our books would be nothing but masses of references to past work. Where the information is the property of anyone who cares to investigate, such as is found in the news columns of our daily papers, or a mat- ter of general knowledge in the present state of the art or even the simultaneous publica- tion of several books or papers, it is unneces- sary that its origin should be noted. When it is a matter of exclusive publication, or an idea of original discovery, the needs of the future student require that the source should be shown. As an illustration of the extent to which this practice has gone, we call to mind a recently published English book in which near- ly half of the material is taken from American periodicals, no credit being given in any in- stance, though the matter is frankly a compila- tion and the author is most punctilious in ac- knowledging his debt to the few European publications from which he has drawn. In one instance, particularly, he reproduces, with his own style of shading and lettering, certain RIGHTS OF AUTHOR 177 sketches made originaly in the office of "En- gineering News" by members of its staff; sketches which have no resemblance whatever to any other existing drawings. In view of the fact that a portion of his material is duly accredited to its proper place, the only de- duction of the reader, ignorant of the true facts of the case, is that the remainder of the work must be original. In addition to the dishonest impression thereby given, how much more valuable would be the book if the reader who wishes to pursue the investigation could get hold of the matter as originally explained in full in the much more detailed accounts of the technical press. XIV COPYRIGHT Copyright is a right of property in a work, of a literary, artistic or illustrative char- acter, by which the author's, or other proprie- tor's, ownership in the work is protected by law. Copyright in the United States is granted by the Constitution of 1787, Art. 1 Sec. 8, which states that : ' ' The Congress shall have power : To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their re- spective writings and discoveries." The pres- ent Copyright Law was passed by both Houses of Congress on March 3 ; it was signed by Presi- dent Taft on March 4, and went into effect on July 1, 1909. It is entitled "An Act to amend and consolidate the acts respecting copyright, ' ' and it takes the place of the copyright enact- ments formerly in force.* * This digest of the new copyright law has been lim- ited to those clauses of special interest to writers of technical books and periodical articles, who want t9 know, only in a general way, what may be copy- righted, how to secure a copyright, the cost, and the protection afforded. In case of a proposed assign- ment of copyright, or of a contemplated action for infringement, or where further detailed information is desired, the reader is advised to obtain the com- plete Copyright Law. from the Copyright Office, Wash- ington, D. C., which will be supplied free, on request. 178 COPYRIGHT 179 NATURE AND EXTENT OF COPYRIGHT The copyright law states that any person en- titled thereto, upon complying with the provi- sions of this Act, shall have the exclusive right : (a) To print, reprint, publish, copy, and vend the copyrighted work; (b) To translate the copyrighted work in- to other languages, or to make any other ver- sion thereof; (c) To deliver or authorize the delivery of the copyrighted works in public for profit, if it be a lecture, address, or similar production. Copyright under this new law protects all the copyrightable component parts of the work copyrighted, and all matter therein in which copyright is already subsisting under the old law, but without extending the duration or scope of such copyright. The copyright upon composite works, such as encyclopedias, dic- tionaries, etc., or periodicals, gives to the pro- prietor all the rights thereto which he would have if each part were individually copy- righted. WHAT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED The works for which copyright may be se- cured include all the productions of an author, artist, etc., but the application for registra- tion must specify to which of the following classes the work in which copyright is claimed belongs : 180 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE (a) Books, 1 including composite and cyclo- pedic works, dictionaries, gazetteers, and other compilations ; (b) Periodicals, including newspapers; (c) Lectures, sermons, addresses, etc., pre- pared for oral delivery; (d) Dramatic and dramatico-musical com- positions ; (e) Musical compositions; (f) Maps; (g) Works of art; models or designs for works of art; (h) Reproductions of a work of art; (i) Drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character; (j) Photographs, (k) Prints and pictorial illustrations. 1 A "Book" means a work of literary substance, not simply a list of printed words, phrases or sen- tences. The mere fact that an article is printed, or that it is made up in the form of a book does not make it a "book" or enable it to secure protection. The work need not, however, be entirely original very few technical books are; it may consist either wholly or in part of old material compiled from sources common to all, but the manner of presenta- tion of the material must be new and such that no previously existing copyright has been secured on the same arrangement. A series of mathematical tables may be copyrighted, or a collection of statistics, etc., but not a mere price list of materials, nor a book of forms, blank agreements, etc., nor cards, letter- heads or envelopes. A blank account book or other integral part of a bookkeeping system cannot be copy- righted, but a literary work, explaining the system of bookkeeping may be. Further, all copies published or offered for sale must be identical; a work pro- vided with blank spaces so that additions can be made, making one coj>y different from another, does not meet the legal requirements. Nor does the law protect the individual component parts of a book or periodical; the title alone or the cover design, can- not be copyrighted, but they may, under certain con- ditions, be protected by the law relating to Trade- marks. A copyright on a technical work containing certain mathematical tables, formulas and statistics, floes not give the author the exclusive right to such material. COPYRIGHT 181 The law provides that there shall be no copy- right on Public Documents, either in whole or in part, provided the work is originally pub- lished by the Government; but if the Govern- ment publication is a reprint of a work already copyrighted, its publication by the Government does not annul or abridge that copyright, or authorize any use or appropriation of the copyrighted material without the consent of the copyright proprietor. WHO MAY OBTAIN COPYRIGHT Copyright protection is granted to an author 1 or proprietor 2 of any work, or his executors, administrators, or assigns ; but when the author or proprietor of the work is not a citizen of the United States copyright is granted only : (a) When he is a resident of the United States at the time of the first publication of his work; (b) When he is a citizen of a country grant- 1. "Author" includes an employer in the case of works made by a hired writer. 2. An entry may not be made in a fictitious name, or a pseudonym, but an author may preserve his anonymity and avoid putting his name on record, if he so desires, by arranging to have some one else take out the copyright as "Proprietor." Entry may be made in the name of a firm, corporation or trustee, or in two or more names as joint authors or pro- prietors, and a "Proprietor" may hold the copyright in trust for the author or other legal owner. 182 ENGINEERING LITERATURE ing reciprocal copyright rights to citizens of the United States. 1 HOW TO SECURE COPYRIGHT Publication of Work with Notice and Regis- tration of Copyright Work. Any person en- titled thereto may secure copyright protection for his work by its publication with notice of copyright imprinted on every copy published 1 and such person may obtain registration of claim by complying with the various condi- tions of the law, and upon such compliance, the Eegister of Copyrights will issue to the claimant a certificate of copyright. Copyright may also be had of the works of an author of which copies are not reproduced for sale, by the deposit, with claim of copyright, of one complete copy of the work if it be a lecture or similar production; of a photo- graphic print, if the work be a photograph ; of a photograph or other identifying reproduc- tion if it be a work of art, or a drawing. But the securing of such copyright does not exempt the proprietor from the deposit of two copies, 1. Reciprocal copyright arrangements now prevail for the benefit of authors, in Great Britain and her possessions, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Den- mark, Portug-al, Spain, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Netherlands, Cuba, and China. An American author may secure copyright in these countries under the conditions there prevailing. This is usually done through an agent or publisher abroad who is familiar with the conditions. COPYRIGHT 183 where the work is later reproduced in copies for sale. Deposit of Copies of Copyright Work. After copyright has been secured by publication of the work with the proper notice of copyright, there must be promptly deposited in, or mailed to, the Copyright Office, addressed to the Reg- ister of Copyrights, Washington, D. C., two complete copies of the best edition of the work then published, 1 which work, if it be a book or periodical, 2 must have been produced in ac- cordance with the manufacturing provisions specified below; or if the work be a contribu- tion to a periodical, for which contribution special registration is requested, one copy of the issue or issues containing such contribu- tion; 3 or if the work is not reproduced in copies for sale, there must be deposited the c Py> print, photograph, or other identifying reproduction already mentioned, which must be accompanied in each ease by a claim of copyright. No action or proceeding for in- 1. No manuscript copies of books or articles, and no original drawings or paintings should be sent to the Copyright Office. 2. Applications may be made in advance for the entry of a number of issues of a periodical, by send- ing the printed title headings with the variations as to volume, number, and date written in each issue re- quiring a separate fee, and separate complete title. 3. Serial contributions to periodicals, including any series of articles published, at intervals and under a general title, can be protected by entering the title of each installment on or before the day of its pub- lication, and by making deposit of copy or copies as specified. 184 ENGINEERING LITERATURE fringement of copyright can be maintained in any work until the provisions of the law with respect to the deposit of copies and registra- tion of such work shall have been complied with. 1 The law provides that should these copies not be promptly deposited, the Register of Copyrights may at any time after the publica- tion of the work, upon actual notice, require the proprietor of the copyright to deposit them, and after this demand shall have been made, in default of the deposit of the copies of the work within three months from any part of the United States, or six months from any outly- ing territorial possession of the United States, or from any foreign country, the proprietor shall be liable to a fine of $100, and to pay to the Library of Congress twice the amount of the retail price of the best edition of the work, and the copyright shall become void. In case the books or other articles on which copyright is claimed are mailed to the Copy- right Office, the postmaster to whom they are delivered will give a receipt for them, on re- 1. In the case of works published in more than one part or volume, the title of each part or volume must be recorded as an independent work, and each requires its own separate deposit of copies and pay- ment of fee. COPYEIGHT 185 quest, and will forward them to their destina- tion without cost to the claimant. 1 Manufacturing Provisions. The printed text of a book or periodical, except the original text of a book of foreign origin in a foreign language, which is accorded copyright protec- tion, must be printed from type set by hand or machine within the limits of the United States, or from plates made within the limits of the United States, from type set therein, and if the text be produced by a lithographic or photo-engraving process, then by a process wholly performed within the United States; which requirements extend also to the illustra- tions within the book, if it consists of printed text and illustrations, and also to separate lithographs and photo-engravings. Affidavit of American Manufacture. In the case of a book, the copies deposited in the Copyright Office must be accompanied by a sworn affidavit made by the person claiming copyright or by his duly authorized agent re- siding within the United States, or by the printer who has printed the book, setting forth that the copies deposited have been manufac- tured as specified ; such affidavit must also state the place where, and the establishment in 1. Owing to the difficulty of insuring the receipt of two copies of a newspaper on or before the date of publication, it is always advisable to get the postmaster's receipt, to serve, in case of need, as evi- dence of the mailing of these two copies, 'on or be- fore the date of publication." 186 ENGINEEEING LITEKATUEE which the type was set or the plates made, where the printing and binding was done, and the date of completion of printing of the book, and the date of its publication.* Penalty for False Affidavit. Any person who, for the purpose of obtaining registration of a claim of copyright, knowingly makes a false affidavit as to having complied with the con- ditions of manufacture, is guilty of a misde- meanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, and all rights and privileges under said copyright will be forfeited. Notice of Copyright. The notice of copy- right required in the case of books consists either of the word "Copyright," or the ab- breviation "Copr.," accompanied by the name of the proprietor and the year in which the copyright was secured by publication, which notice must be imprinted upon the title page or the page immediately following. 2 (See, for example, the notice on page following title of this book.) But in the case of copies of works specified above under subsections (f) to (k), inclusive, the notice consists of the letter C en- closed within a circle, thus (C), accompanied 1. "Date of publication" means the earliest date when copies are placed on sale or publicly distribut- ed by the proprietor of the copyright, or under his authority. 2. In a periodical, the notice must be either upon the title page or upon the first page of text of each number, or under the title heading. COPYRIGHT 187 by the initials, monogram, or other symbol of the proprietor, whose full name must appear on the margin, back, base, or other permanent and accessible portion of each copy. 1 In works in which copyright is subsisting when this Act went into effect, the notice of copyright may be either in one of these forms, or in one of those prescribed by the previously existing Act. In case of the accidental omission, or an error in the form of publication of the copy- right notice, where the proprietor has sought to comply with the provisions of the law, this omission or error shall not invalidate the copy- right or prevent recovery from infringement against any person who, after actual notice of 1 It is customary for the publisher to obtain the copyright when the book is printed and to have the legal notice printed in the book in his own name rather than in the name of the author, for various reasons, one of the principal of which is the protec- tion of the copyright, as he is better able, as a rule, to give the matter proper attention than the author would be. This does not, however, affect the owner- ship of the copyright, which is determined by the agreement made between the author and the publish- er The publisher also attends to the copyrighting of the book in Great Britain and other foreign countries, when necessary. Many of the leading publishers have branch houses or agents in Great Britain which pub- lish there all the works published by the house in the United States and also attend to the formalities of nre, copyright is secured by registra- tion of title at Stationer's Hall, London, and by de- livery of copies of the work free, to each of the great public libraries, as follows: (1) British Museum, London. (2) Bodleian Library, Oxford. (3) Cambridge University Library. (4) Advocate's Library, Edinburgh (5) Library of Trinity College, Dublin. In addition to this, it is necessary .to print on R he title page of each copy of the book All Rights Re served." The fees required are very low. 188 ENGINEERING LITERATURE the copyright, begins an undertaking to in- fringe it; but it will prevent the recovery of damages against an innocent infringer who has been misled by the omission of the notice ; and in a suit for infringement, no permanent in- junction may be had unless the proprietor reim- burses the innocent infringer his outlay inno- cently incurred, if the court so directs. Ad Interim Copyright protection, Where a book is published abroad in the English lan- guage before publication in the United States, an ad interim copyright may be secured by the deposit in the Copyright Office, not later than thirty days after its publication abroad, of one complete copy of the foreign edition, with a request for a reservation of the copyright and a statement of the name and nationality of the author or proprietor, and of the date of pub- lication of the book; and this ad interim pro- tection will have the same force as given to legal copyright for thirty days after such deposit. If, within this period, an authorized edition of the book is published within the United States, in accordance with the manufacturing conditions specified, and if the provisions re- garding deposit of copies, registration, filing of affidavit, and the printing of the copyright notice have been complied with, the copyright will be extended for the full term of copyright protection, COPYRIGHT 189 Duration of Copyright. Copyright protec- tion endures for 28 years from the date of the first publication, whether the copyrighted work bears the author's name or is published anony- mously or under an assumed name, and the proprietor of the copyright is entitled to re- newal of the copyright for a further term of 28 years when application for renewal is made to the Copyright Office and duly registered therein within one year prior to the expiration of the original copyright. In the case of a contribution by an individ- ual author to a periodical or other composite work when such contribution has been sep- arately registered, the author of the work, if still living, or if not living, his heirs, executors, or in the absence of a will, the next of kin, is entitled to a renewal of the copyright in such work for a further term of 28 years on appli- cation, as provided above. In default of the registration of this appli- cation for renewal or extension, the copyright in any work w r ill determine at the expiration of 28 years from the first publication. The copyright subsisting on any work at the time that this Act went into effect may, at the expiration of the original term of copyright, be renewed by the author of the work if still living, or if not living, by his heirs, executors. or next of kin, for a further period, such that the entire term shall be equal to that secured 190 ENGINEERING LITERATURE by this Act, including the renewal period, provided that the terms already specified re- garding application for renewal shall have been complied with. Protection of Copyright and Penalties for Infringement. 1 If any person infringes the copyright in any work protected under the copyright law, such person is liable: (a) To an injunction restraining such in- fringement. (b) To pay to the copyright proprietor such 1. The copyright covers the plan and system of the work, and the classification and arrangement of the topics, but a new edition of a work is protected by the original copyright only to the extent of the matter reprinted, new matter requiring a new copyright entry. When a new edition of a book is to be entered, an imprint should be made on the title page to dis- tinguish the new edition from the old, so that there will be no possibility of confusing the new entry with the former entry, as might easily happen if the title pages were exactly alike, and on the page following the title, the date of the new entry should be added to the former entry, but should not replace it. In a review of a book, the reviewer may cite largely from the original work, without infringing the copy- right, if his desire be truly to use the passage for the purpose of fair and reasonable criticism. In case of periodical articles once published, even in an obscure journal, without the protection of copy- right, an article cannot afterward be claimed as the property of the author or sold by him. Publication without copyright gives a manuscript to the public, and the author has no more right in it afterward than anybody else. It may be reprinted by anyone without giving credit to the original source, but it is a cus- tomary rule in journalism to give credit in the case of all matter clearly original. In the case of a copy- righted periodical, however, permission must be se- cured before an article can be safely reprinted in full. Ordinarily a portion of an article may be safely re- printed without expressed permission if credit be given. In fact, publishers of periodicals welcome the reprinting of such extracts as they look on it as use- ful advertising, and often they go to considerable expense to place articles in the hands of exchange editors and to make it easy for them to copy. Seldom is there any objection to reprinting short articles in full, bvit proper credit should always be given both to the author and the publication. COPYRIGHT 191 damages as he may have suffered due to the infringement, as well as all the profits which the infringer has made from his infringement ; and in proving profits the plaintiff is required to prove sales only and the defendant is re- quired to prove every element of cost which he claims. In lieu of actual damages and profits the infringer is liable for such dam- ages as to the court shall appear to be just, and in assessing such damages, the court may allow the amounts stated below, but in no case shall such damages exceed $5,000, nor be less than $250, except in the case of a news- paper reproduction of a copyrighted photo- graph, where such damages shall not exceed $200, nor be less than $50. For every infring- ing copy made, or sold by, or found in the possession of, the infringer or his agents or employees, there will be an allowance of $1.00. In the case of a lecture or address, there will be an allowance for damages of $50 for each infringing delivery. (c) To deliver up on oath, to be impounded during the pendency of the action, upon such terms and conditions as the court may pre- scribe, all articles alleged to infringe a copy- right. (d) To deliver up on oath for destruction, all the infringing copies or devices, as well as all plates, moulds, matrices, or other means 192 ENGINEEEING LITEKATURE for making such infringing copies, as the court may order. Any person who willfully infringes any copyright secured by this Act or who know- ingly abets such infringement, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, or both, at the discretion of the court. Any person who, with fraudulent intent, in- serts notice of copyright as required by the law, or words of the same purport, in or upon any uncopyrighted article, or removes or alters the copyright notice upon any article duly copyrighted, is guilty of a misdemeanor pun- ishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000. Any person who knowingly issues or sells any article bearing a notice of United States copyright which has not been copyrighted in this country, or who knowingly imports any article bearing such notice, or words of same purport, which has not been copyrighted in this country, is liable to a fine of $100. The importation into the United States of any article bearing a false notice of copyright when there is no existing copyright thereon in this country, or of any piratical copies of any work copyrighted in the United States, is pro- hibited. During the existence of the American copy- COPYRIGHT 193 right in any book, the importation into the United States of any piratical copies thereof, or of any copies thereof (although authorized by the author or proprietor) which have not been produced in accordance with the manu- facturing provisions of this Act, or any plates of the same not made from type set within the limits of the United States, is prohibited. But, except as regards piratical copies, such prohi- bition does not apply: (a) To a foreign newspaper or magazine, although containing matter copyrighted in the United States, unless such newspaper contains matter printed or reprinted without authority of the proprietor; (b) To the authorized edition of a foreign book of which only a translation in English has been copyrighted in the United States; (c) To any book published abroad with the authorization of the author or proprietor when imported under any of the following circum- stances : When imported, not more than one copy at a time, for individual use and not for sale ; but such privilege of importation shall not extend to a foreign reprint of a book by an American author copyrighted in United States. When imported for use and not for sale, not more than one copy at a time, by or for, any library, college, school, or institution incor- 194 ENGINEEEING LITEEATUKE porated for educational, literary, scientific, or religious purposes. When such books form parts of collections purchased en bloc for the use of societies, in- stitutions, libraries, etc., or form parts of the libraries or personal baggage of persons arriv- ing from foreign countries and which are not intended for sale. But copies imported as above may not law- fully be used in any way to violate the rights of the proprietor of the American copyright or annul or limit his copyright protection, and such use, although- lawful, will be deemed an infringement of copyright. Any and all articles prohibited importation as specified, and brought into the United States from any foreign country (except in the mails), will be seized and forfeited, but all copies of authorized editions of copyrighted books imported in the mails or otherwise, in violation of these provisions, may be returned to the country of export, when it is shown that such importation did not involve wilful neg- ligence or fraud. No criminal proceeding can be maintained unless the same is commenced within three years after the cause of the action arose. Assignment of Copyright. Copyright is dis- tinct from the property in the material object copyrighted, and the sale or conveyance, by gift or otherwise, of the material object does COPYRIGHT 195 not of itself constitute a transfer of the copy- right, nor does the assignment of the copy- right constitute a transfer of the title to the material object. Copyright may be assigned, granted, mortgaged, or may be bequeathed by will. Every assignment of copyright must be recorded in the Copyright Office within three months after its execution in the United States or within six months after its execution out- side the United States. When an assignment in the copyright on a specified book or other w^ork has been recorded, the assignee may substitute his name for that of the assignor in the statutory notice of copyright. Copyright Registration. When deposit has been made in the Copyright Office of copies of any work, an entry is made in the record books of the Register of Copyrights, and in the case of each entry, the person recorded as claimant of the copyright is entitled to a cer- tificate of registration, containing his name and address, the title of the work upon which copyright is claimed, the date of the deposit of copies, and such marks as to class designa- tion and entry numbers as shall fully identify the entry. In the case of a book the certificate also states the receipt of the affidavit regarding manufacture, and the date of the completion of the printing, or the date of the publication of the book, as stated in the affidavit. This certificate will be admitted in any court as 196 ENGINEERING LITEKATUKE prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein. In addition to this certificate, the Register of Copyrights will furnish, on request, and with- out additional fee, a receipt for the copies of the work deposited to complete the registra- tion. The record books of the Copyright Office, together with indexes to the records and to all works deposited and retained in the Copyright Office, are open to public inspection, and copies may be taken of the copyright entries actually made in the books. Copyright Fees. The fees payable to the Register of Copyrights by the persons to whom the services designated are rendered are as follows : For registration of any work subject to copy- right, deposited under provisions of this Act $1.00; which sum includes a certificate of registration under seal; but in the case of a photograph, the fee shall be 50 cents, when a certificate is not demanded. For every additional certificate of registration made* 50 cents. For recording and certifying any instrument of writing for the assignment of copyright, or for any copy of such assignment, if not over 300 words in length $1.00. More than 300 and less than 1,000 words $2.00. More than 1,000 words, $1 additional for COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION 197 each 1,000 words or fraction thereof, over 300 words. For comparing any copy of assignment with the record of such document in the Copy- right Office and certifying the same under seal $1.00. For recording the renewal or extension of copyright 50 cents. For recording the transfer of the proprietor- ship of copyrighted article 10 cents for each title of a book or other article in addi- tion to the fee prescribed for recording the instrument of assignment. For any requested search of Copyright Office records, indexes, or deposits 50 cents for each full hour of time consumed in making such search. STEPS NECESSARY TO PROCURE COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION Abstracted from Copyright Office Circ. No. 35. For Works Reproduced in Copies for Sale. 1. Publish the work with the copyright no- tice. The notice may be in the form, "Copy- right, 19 (year date of publication) by (name of copyright proprietor)." 2. Promptly after publication, send to the Copyright Office two copies of the best edition 198 E-NGINEEEING LITERATURE of the work, 1 with an application for regis- tration and a money order payable to the Register of Copyrights for the statutory regis- tration fee of $1. As to special fee for regis- tration of photographs, see below. In the case of books the copies deposited must be accompanied by an affidavit, under the official seal of an officer authorized to admin- ister oaths, stating that the type-setting, print- ing, and binding of the books have been per- formed within the United States. Affidavit and application forms will be supplied by the Copy- right Office on request. For Works Not Reproduced in Copies for Sale. Copyright may also be had of certain classes of works (see a, b, c, p. 199) of which copies are not reproduced for sale, by filing in the Copyright Office an application for regis- tration, with the statutory fee of $1, sending therewith : 1. A work becomes the property of the public by publication, and the exclusive property of the author in it ceases as soon as by publication it has become the' property of the public, unless he has complied with the requirements of the statute and secured a copyright. Permission to make a copy of a manu- script is not publication; neither is the delivery of a lecture or address. There are cases in which the con- clusion that printing- "for private circulation" has been held as publication, and other cases to the con- trary. In practice, "publication" is supposed to take place when the book is advertised or offered to the public at a price, as a sale naturally infers publica- tion. Remittances should always be made by Money Order, payable to the Register of Copyrights. No money (currency or coin) postage stamps or personal checks, should be placed in any letter or other matter sent to the Copyright Office. It is best to mail together in one parcel; the work to be registered, the application blank, affidavit (when necessary) and money order. COPYRIGHT APPLICATION FORMS 199 (a) In the case of lectures or other oral addresses, one complete manuscript or typewritten copy of the work. This privilege of registration, however, does not exempt the copyright proprietor from the deposit of printed copies of a lecture where the work is later reproduced in copies for sale. (b) In the case of photographs not in- tended for general circulation, one photographic print. (c) In the case of works of art (paintings, drawings, sculpture) ; or of drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character, one photograph or other identifying reproduction of the work. Fees, The statutory fee for registration of any work is one dollar, including a certificate of registration under seal. In the case of a photograph, if a certificate is not demanded, the fee is fifty cents. In the case of several volumes of the same book deposited at the same time, only one registration at one fee is required. APPLICATION FORMS Abstracted from Copyright Office Circ. No. 12. Applicants for copyright registration under the new law, are requested to use application forms furnished on request by the Copyright Office. 200 ENGINEEEING LITEBATUKE A separate form should be used for each work to be entered. Requests for forms should specify the num- ber and kind of forms desired, selected from the following list: Books For a book written by a citizen of the United States, ask for "Application Form A 1 ," and "Affidavit Form," specifying in the request whether the book is to be printed from type or plates made from type or is to be pro- duced by lithographic or photo-engraving process. For a book written by a citizen of a foreign country, printed in the United States, ask for "Application Form A 1 Foreign." For a new edition of a book by a citizen or resident of the United States, ask for "Appli- cation Form New Ed." For the American edition of a book in the English language on which ad interim copy- right has been previously secured, ask for "Application Form A 2 ," and "Affidavit Form," specifying in the request whether the book is to be printed from type or plates made from type or is to be produced by lithographic or photo-engraving process. For a book by a foreign author in a foreign language, ask for "Application Form A 3 ." For ad interim copyright on a book pub- lished abroad in the English language, ask fpr "Application Form A 4 ." COPYRIGHT APPLICATION FORMS 201 For a contribution to a newspaper or period- ical, ask for "Application Form A 5 ." Periodicals If it is desired to make a sep- arate application and remittance as each issue appears, ask for "Application Form BV If it is desired to file a general application in advance and to deposit therewith a sum to cover the fees for several issues, ask for "Ap- plication Form B 2 ." For a Lecture or Address for oral delivery, ask for "Application Form C." Maps For a published map, ask for "Ap- plication Form F." Drawing or Plastic Work For a drawing or plastic work of a scientific or technical char- acter, ask for "Application Form I." Photographs For a photograph published for sale, ask for "Application Form J 1 ." For a photograph not to be published, ask for "Application Form J 2 ." Prints or Pictorial Illustrations For the reg- istration of any "print" or "pictorial illustra- tion," which is a printed picture, complete in itself and having artistic quality, ask for "Ap- plication Form K. ' ' Affidavit Forms For a separate affidavit form to be filed with copies of a book printed from type set within the United States or from plates made therefrom, ask for "Affidavit Form A 1 ." For a separate affidavit form to be filed with 2C2 ENGINEERING LITERATURE copies of a book produced by lithographic or photo-engraving process wholly performed within the United States, ask for " Affidavit Form A 2 ." Renewal or Extension For the renewal of copyright subsisting in any work for the new renewal term of 28 years as provided by the new law, available only for works originally entered since July 1, 1881, ask for " Renewal Form RV For the extension of an existing renewal term from 14 years as provided under the old law, to 28 years granted by the new law, available only for works already renewed under the old law since July 1, 1895, ask for " Extension Form R 2 ." (These renewal forms can only be used within a period of one year prior to the expira- tion of the existing term.) No forms are issued by the Copyright Office for assignments, or licenses, nor for Postmas- ter's receipts for articles deposited. XV RELATIONS BETWEEN AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER Choosing a Publisher. When the manuscript is completed, the question of publication arises. An author may publish his book himself or he may have it published by a publishing house, but the latter course is the more common and advisable for several very good reasons. Pub- lication of a book involves a knowledge of the technical features of bookmaking that only experience can teach ; it involves dealings with several distinct classes of people; it involves a knowledge of how to market the book, and facilities of some kind for handling it. There may be exceptional cases where an author has the business experience, the special knowledge, and the facilities, as well as the necessary finan- cial backing, for the production and sale of his work; yet even in these cases the balance of favor is with the publisher. The work con- nected with the publication of his own book would necessarily take considerable time and attention from his regular vocation, and it is doubtful if this would be repaid by the small extra profit that might possibly result. The publisher has the facilities, financially and 203 204 ENGINEERING LITERATURE otherwise, for the proper manufacture of the book, takes on himself the entire burden of advertising it, handling it, carrying stock, etc., leaving the author free to devote his time to his own regular calling. "Whether the publication of the book by a publisher or by the author himself yields the greater financial returns is an oft-recurring question and there have been good arguments on each side of the case. On the one side, when the book is published on a royalty basis, the publisher usually bears the cost of produc- tion and selling, advancing all the money neces- sary, and thus claims that he bears the entire risk and expense. On the other hand, in any arrangement where the returns to the author depend on the sale of the book, the author may argue that he certainly shares the risk, and further that after putting many weeks or months or perhaps years into the work, he may have to wait months before he gets any returns on his labor. This question is one that has had much consideration and one over which there have been bitter feelings aroused at times between authors and publishers, but those in positions to know from experience will realize that the question involves too many features to permit of a general solution. Book publishing is different in many ways from other classes of mercantile business and there are too many considerations connected with the AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER 205 marketing of the book to make it a certainty that any particular book will be a financial suc- cess before it is actually offered for sale. To the writer's knowledge many likely books have proved utter failures and have brought consid- erable financial loss to the publisher ; also many books originally published by authors with the expectation of reaping a financial harvest, and which have failed on the ground of salesman- ship, have proved successful when turned over to a publisher. It is perfectly natural that the publisher, with his experience, knowledge, or- ganization, and credit, and with an established reputation, should be able to handle this class of work to greater advantage than a man with- out these fundamental essentials. Further, he is in a position to advertise the book in a man- ner that modesty would often prohibit in the case of the author-publisher, by describing the author's professional work, and otherwise showing him to the public as an authority on his subject. The question of financial returns is too large to take up in detail, but all things considered, it is advantageous for an author to have his book issued by one of the regular and recog- nized publishing houses. Having, then, decided on this method of publication, two considera- tions immediately arise: the proper publisher and the terms of publication. An article for a periodical may be submitted 206 ENGINEEKING LITEEATUEE in its entirety or in summary form mentioned on page 211, to any periodical whose field in- cludes the branch of the profession to which the article relates. If it proves of interest and is properly prepared, it will find acceptance. Many contributions are sent to the periodicals without expectation of payment, but where compensation is expected, it is well to mention the fact in the note accompanying the manu- script. If no such mention is made, the editor has a right to think that no compensation is expected. In regard to payments, some peri- odicals pay for articles soon after publication and some do not. It is not customary for an author to send a bill, but if no remittance is received within a reasonable time, say one full month after publication of the article, the author is justified in asking for an explanation or as to when a remittance may be expected. A different procedure is customary in con- nection with book manuscripts, both in the method of their submission to publishers and in the method of payment for the rights of publication. If the writer has an established reputation he will have no difficulty in placing his work to advantage, in fact, there will be competition among publishers for it. The same might be said of a manuscript treating of a branch of engineering on which there is little published literature, when the author occupies a position that warrants his having a reliable AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER 207 knowledge of the subject. This holds good of both book and periodical literature. But where an author is practically unknown to the pub- lishing world and he has had no previous deal- ings with publishers, and no recognized stand- ing as an authoritative writer, there are sev- eral considerations of which he must take cog- nizance in his selection of a publisher and be- fore he parts with his rights in the manuscript. In the first place there are but few pub- lishers who specialize in engineering literature as compared with those who handle fiction or general literature; the difference in the me- thods of publishing and in reaching the trade make this class of literature a specialty. An author should first ascertain who the publishers of engineering literature are and should make sure to associate himself with a reputable con- cern only ; one having the confidence of the pro- fession in its output, and having a financial standing that guarantees the proper manufac- ture and sale of the book and the payments of royalties. He should beware of the houses that offer large royalties they cannot pay them. If the author himself does not know who the high-class publishers are, he can get the names from any one of the engineering societies and only those concerns that are known to the profession should be considered. Their financial standing can be ascertained at a trifling^ cost by application for a report to 208 ENGINEERING LITERATURE any one of the large commercial agencies, such as Dun's and Bradstreet's. The Literary Agent, Instead of handling this matter himself and dealing direct with the publisher, the author may place his manu- script with a literary agent. The literary agent is a go-between ; he takes the manuscript from an author and places it with a publisher on the best possible basis, taking all the troubles and annoyances of direct dealing from the shoulders of the author. He examines the man- uscript sufficiently to enable him to decide upon the best house to offer it to. He does not offer an engineering treatise to a publisher of fiction, nor a book on electro-metallurgy or mining to a house limiting itself to civil en- gineering works. Of several houses handling that particular class of book, his special know- ledge of publishers and of their terms and methods enables him to select the one that is most energetic in pushing its sales and which has behind it a reputation for reliability. Many a good book has had a small circulation from lack of energetic salesmanship, with the con- sequent small financial returns to both the author and the publisher. Then the agent knows just how to offer the book to each par- ticular publisher, and can often get into direct touch with the right man where the author would have to conduct his dealings entirely by mail and probably through subordinates. Thus AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER 209 the agent takes from the author the business end of placing his manuscript, leaving the lat- ter free to devote himself to his regular occu- pation without the misunderstandings, delays, and worries which he finds are the more vexa- tious because he has not had the experience necessary to cope with them. When the book has been examined and found acceptable by the publisher, the agent arranges terms, making the best arrangement the manuscript and the conditions warrant. Later, if desired by the author, he collects the royalties as they fall due, takes out his com- mission and remits the balance to the author, with complete statement of the sales of his book, thus enabling the author to avoid dealings with any house which has a reputa- tion for sharp practices. The literary agent can render valuable services to each party, but more often the dealings between the author and the publisher are carried on directly, with- out any intermediary. Submission of the Manuscript. In submit- ting the manuscript to the publisher for ex- amination, nothing, as a rule, is gained by its personal delivery. It should, and in the end it must, speak for itself ; the writer confers no favor on the publisher by submitting the manu- script to him nor does the publisher confer a favor upon the author by its acceptance. It is entirely a matter of business and is more 210 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE likely to be successful if carried out in an en- tirely impersonal manner. The quality of the material is the ultimate test of its acceptance. Personal acquaintance with a publisher or per- sonal explanations of the circumstances con- nected with the writing of the manuscript are not necessary or even useful, except to the ex- tent of the information they convey as to the author's professional position and in cases where business information is given, to the extent of letting the publisher know that he has authority to use this information. Some authors, desirous of making a good impression by the general outward appearance of their manuscripts, have them bound. This is a mistake as the manuscript reader does not want to hold the entire work at one time while examining it; if the sheets are loose he can take them up separately and can more easily refer to any special part of the work desired for comparisons. Further, the manuscript can- not be edited or sent to the printer in that way so in case of its acceptance it must be separated before sending it to the printer. Between two manuscripts of equal literary value, the bound runs a far greater chance of rejection than the unbound, on account of these difficulties in examination. In all cases the manuscript should be sent flat and accompanied by the drawings or illus- trations as already stated on page 128. It may AUTHOK AND PUBLISHER 211 be well before submitting the manuscript it- self, for the author to send a form of title page (which may subsequently be modified by tech- nical considerations), and a complete table of contents or summary list of chapter headings and other description of the work, to the pub- lisher, asking if submission of the complete manuscript would be welcomed. This would save time in first consideration, and make a good impression on the publisher, and save much expense and annoyance to the author himself. In such a preliminary letter, how- ever, too much, or in fact, any, argument re- garding the possible selling qualities of the book (unless it is written by an expert who knows) may make an unfavorable impression, as it is the business of the publisher to decide whether the book will sell or not. Bulky manu- scripts should be sent by express, and should be insured, as in case of loss the value can be collected. Publishers are not responsible for the loss of manuscript except in cases w r here loss is due to their own carelessness or neglect. When the parcel runs into several pounds weight, the cost of transportation by express is much less than when sent by mail. It is always well to notify the publisher by separate letter of the despatch and the method of ship- ment of a manuscript at the time of shipment. The author's rights in his manuscript have been discussed in another chapter from the 212 ENGINEERING LITERATURE point of view of professional ethics and in- fringement of copyright, but there is another phase of the subject that should be taken up in this place. That is his rights in case of loss of his manuscript by fire or otherwise ; also the question of how long an editor or publisher may retain a manuscript without putting him- self under moral, if not legal, obligations to pay for it. In neither case, where the manu- script has been submitted unsolicited, has the author any real claim. By his unsolicited offer of the manuscript he puts himself at the mercy of the publisher, to suit his convenience in its examination. The publisher may have many manuscripts on hand or it may not be con- venient otherwise to examine it at once and the author must wait. He may, of course, after a reasonable time, ask for a report on it, or for its return. It will be found, however, that the better class publishers conduct their busi- ness with due regard to the demands of cour- tesy and common justice, and give as prompt attention as possible to all manuscripts sub- mitted to them. To prevent loss of the manu- script by accident, authors are advised always to keep an exact copy of the original sent to the publisher. Whatever may be the law in the matter, it has been settled by custom that a publisher is not bound to return a manuscript unless post- age or "express collect" instructions have AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER 213 been sent him by the author, and the author has no ground for complaint at the publisher's failure to return his manuscript, if he has not complied with this common usage. Terms of Publication. Only a writer of es- tablished reputation could set a price on his material or demand a stipulated royalty or even ask for an offer from any of the reliable publishing houses. The ordinary writer, with- out special authoritative reputation, must await the pleasure of the publisher, and if his manuscript is acceptable as to literary ma- terial, he must accept the offer of the pub- lisher or take his manuscript elsewhere. The terms offered by publishers of engineer- ing literature vary according to the reputation of the author, character of the manuscript and its possible market, and various commercial conditions. The publisher may offer to buy the manuscript outright for a stipulated sum, or he may offer to publish it on royalty. The method of outright purchase is used generally in cases where the writer is a man of estab- lished reputation and where books are written "to order." The payment is usually made, part on delivery of the manuscript, balance on publication. Under the more common method of publishing on royalty, there are three gen- eral systems in use: 214 ENGINEERING LITERATURE 1. Publisher stands all expense of manufac- ture and sale and pays a percentage royalty to author. 2. Publisher and author divide expense and . profits. 3. Author stands all expense of manufac- ture and sells to the publisher at a fixed price, the latter paying the ex- pense of selling and handling. The first plan is that most favored by Amer- ican publishers. The royalty is sometimes paid on all copies sold, and sometimes on all copies sold after a sale of a stipulated number of copies sufficient to repay the publisher for his investment. Royalty is never paid on copies printed. Under this arrangement, and in fact, under any arrangement other than the outright purchase of the manuscript and all rights in it, the author is entitled, on request, to an exact statement of the sales of his book. Some pub- lishers send monthly or quarterly statements showing number of copies sold, but it is more customary to make semi-annual settlements, accompanied by full statements of sales. In the case of a royalty arrangement the copyright may be taken out in the name of either author or publisher, and the agreement may be for the full term of the . copyright or for a briefer period. AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER 215 By the second plan, a considerable portion of the risk is borne by the author, his part in the expense usually being the cost of compo- sition and plates and sometimes of illustrations. He then remains the owner of the plates as well as of the copyright and receives a royalty on the sales, plus an extra royalty for the use of the plates. Sometimes, in the case of an un- known writer, he is asked to bear the whole expense of manufacture and is paid a larger rate of royalty. This method offers much lee- way for new authors to get their books in the hands of high-class publishers. The third method is used by writers of estab- lished reputation, for whose works there is a ready demand. The author manufactures the book, and delivers copies to the publisher as ordered, at a specified rate. This is custom- arily 50 per cent, of the retail price, which is paid either for the entire lot ordered, or for copies sold, by monthly, quarterly, or semi- annual remittances. In this case also the author retains all rights in the copyright and usually makes an agreement with a publisher for a specified time. When the manufacture of the book is under- taken by the publisher, at the expense of the author, as may be in the last two methods of publication named, the author is entitled to a detailed estimate showing the outlay he 216 ENGINEEKING LITEKATUEE agrees to assume, and before committing him- self to any agreement, should insist upon such an estimate. From these figures he should be able to judge of costs of manufacture and pos- sible profits, and whether the proposition sub- mitted by the publisher is fair or not. Royalties. The usual royalty is ten per cent, of the retail selling price. A higher rate may be paid to a writer of reputation whose books are sure to have a large sale, but ten per cent, has been found by experience to be the most equitable rate on the average book. In con- sidering this, the author should bear in mind that the publisher is showing considerable faith in the work by his willingness to assume the large liability of its manufacture and sale. If the book is a failure, he stands to lose from six or seven hundred to three thousand dollars on the venture. This amount is made up by the cost of editing, composition and plates, paper, presswork, binding, advertising and handling the book, free review copies, etc., all of which is paid by the publisher, and some- times he is pressed very hard by an author for an " advance on account of royalties." It is therefore evident that with all these expenses, the publisher cannot afford to contract to pay the author a large royalty. The cost of an average technical book may be divided as fol' lows, considering an edition of 2,000, and a retail selling price of three dollars: AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER 217 Manufacture : 20% $ .60 Royalty: 10% 30 Average discount on all sales : 20% 60 Expense of selling and handling : 25% 75 Publisher's margin : 25% 75 It will be seen, then, from this fairly average hypothetical case, that the publisher has in- vested $1,200, and will have to sell over 1,330 copies before he gets back his investment. Add to this 1,330 copies, say 50 free copies, for the author, for reviews in periodicals, and for other purposes, and it is seen that he has left a few over 600 on which to make a possible profit of some $450. This has to pay him for his risk, interest, and other items, while the author will have received on the same sales, royalties of nearly $600, besides having a repu- tation established. Some books, of course, far exceed in sales the edition named above, but many fall as far below it; if some did not ex- ceed this number, there could be no high-class publishers. It stands to reason then that a ten per cent, royalty is fair. It is doubtful if the "margin of profit" of any other class of manufacture has to undergo such a careful and continuous division as that of the publisher of techni- cal books, and in common fairness, the author should keep this in mind." Yet there are writers, and especially some of little 218 . ENGINEEBING LITEEATUBE experience, who, forgetful of the necessary trade discounts and the up-keep of the pub- lisher's establishment and organization, go from one publisher to another to bargain for higher royalties, making absurd demands, and who finally "kill the goose" by publishing their own works. A very few succeed but more fail of their purpose and many of these are ultimately saved from complete loss of their investment by some publisher taking over their book, and creating a demand for it. Form of Agreement. Forms of agreement vary in detail. The following form gives all of the more common conditions to be consid- ered. The carrying out of the agreement to the satisfaction of both author and publisher depends upon their mutual good will and good faith and a thorough understanding of all the terms of publication. The author should see that everything is clear and that all conditions are entered on the agreement form; that noth- ing is left as "assumed" or "generally under- stood." Agreement made the day of 19 between of (including his heirs and assigns), hereinafter called the AUTHOB, and hereinafter called the PUBLISHEBS. Grant and Copyright Right of Translation and Abridgment 1. The said Author hereby grants and assigns to the said Publishers, the Manuscript of a work, the subject or title of which is AUTHOE AND PUBLISHER 21!) with the exclusive right to take out a Copyright thereof, and to renew the same, in its own name or in the name of the Author, and to publish said work during the term of the Copyright. The exclusive right of translations, abridgments and selections from the said work, or any parts thereof, is also granted and assigned by the Author to the Publishers. Author's Guarantee 2. The Author guarantees that he is the sole owner of the said work and has full power to make this grant, and that it is in no way libellous or a violation of any copyright belonging to any other party, and that he will hold harmless and defend the Publishers against all suits, proceedings and claims which may be taken on the ground that this work is libellous or a violation of copyright. Publication 3. The Publishers hereby agree to publish said work at their own expense in such style and quantities as seem to them best suited to the sale of the work and further agree to use their best endeavors to pro- mote such sale, adopting such methods as are deemed most efficient by them. Royalty Free Review Copies 4. The Publichers agree to pay the Author a royalty of per cent, of the retail price of the work, on each copy sold, except on those sold to wholesale dealers in foreign countries, on which the royalty shall be per cent, of the American retail price, but the Publishers reserve the right to send out such free copies (on which no royalty is to be paid) for review or otherwise as may in their judgment be neces- sary to suitably advertise and promote the sale of the work. Statement of Sales and Payments 5. Statement of sales shall be rendered semi-an- nually, in the months of January and July, for the periods ending December 31 and June 30, respectively, and payment of the amount due the Author will bo made in each case within thirty days thereafter. 220 ENGINEERING LITERATURE Author's Alterations Index 6. Any alterations made by the Author after the work is in type, which exceed ten (10) per cent, of the cost of composition, shall be at the expense of the Author, and any Index that may be required to com- plete the work, shall be considered as part of the Manuscript and shall be prepared by the Author or at his expense. Destruction of Plates 7. If the plates or type forms be rendered valueless by fire or otherwise, the Publishers shall have the option of reproducing them or not, and if they decline to do so, then, after the sale of all copies remaining on hand, the Copyright and all rights herein granted shall be re-conveyed to the Author and this contract shall terminate. Assignment of Contract 8. This contract may be assigned by either party, and the Assignee shall have all the rights and reme- dies of the original parties thereto, but only as a whole and neither party shall assign any part interest therein. Author's Copies 9. Five (5) copies of the complete work shall be furnished on publication to the Author by the Pub- lishers, free of all charges. On behalf of the Publishers, For the author. XVI THE LAW OF LIBEL [Most of the following paragraphs are extracted from articles by Samuel Merrill, author of "Newspaper Libel," a complete and useful handbook (Ticknor & Co., Boston, 1883); from May's "Law of Crimes" (Lit- tle, Brown & Co., Boston, 1893); and from Bigelow's "Law of Torts" (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1896).] Lord Camden's definition of libel, repeatedly approved by the courts of New York, is as follows: "A censorious or ridiculing writing, picture, or sign, made with, a mischievous or malicious intent, toward government, magis- trates, or individuals." Within the scope of this definition, printed and published blasphemy is indictable as a libel, and so is printed obscenity or other im- moral matter both on the ground that they tend to deprave or corrupt the public morals. So is a publication against the government, tending to degrade and vilify it, and to pro- mote discontent and insurrection; or calumni- ating a court, tending to weaken the adminis- tration of justice. Quoted by permission from "Writing for the Press," by Robert Luce (Boston, 1907 $1.00) a useful com- pilation of material for reporters, magazine writers and authors, edited by a writer who has been brought into continual contact with newspaper work for a number of years. For the technical man, its greatest value lies in the several sections on the use of com- mon words and phrases Discrimination, Slang or Idiom. Obnoxious Words. Trite or Grandiloquent Ex- pressions, Condensation by use of Simple Words, Bom- bastic and Fine Writing, etc. 221 222 ENGINEERING LITERATURE The more common and restricted definition of libel at common law, as against individuals, is, the malicious publication of any writing, sign, picture, effigy, or other representation tending to defame the memory of one who is dead, or the reputation of one who is living, and to expose him to ridicule, hatred, or con- tempt. It is punishable as a misdemeanor, on the ground that such a publication has a ten- dency to disturb the public peace. It also gives the injured party ground for damages to be recovered by a civil suit. Language is none the less libellous if the object of the charge is not named, provided people in the community would understand who is meant. If they would not understand who is referred to, the matter is not of suffi- cient interest for publication. The matter is equally libellous if directed against a family, though it is not against any individual mem- ber of the family. It is generally immaterial what meaning the writer intended his words to convey; the ef- fect of the publication, the manner in which readers understand it, is alone in issue. Like- wise it is immaterial whether the defamatory charge be affirmative and direct, or indirect so as to be matter of inference merely, or that it is ironical, or that it is made in allegory or other artful disguise. It is enough that the charge would naturally be understood to be LAW OF LIBEL 223 defamatory by men of average intelligence. It is not necessary that the words contain an imputation of crime. It is libellous to charge anyone with falsehood, dishonesty, in- solvency, drunkenness, unchastity, or having a contagious or infectious disease of a dis- graceful kind, as well as any offense against the law. Defamation has a natural tendency to injure a man in his office, business, or occupation, within the meaning of the rule, when it strikes at his qualification for the performance of the duties of his situation, or when it alleges some misconduct or negligence in the course of per- forming those duties. Language may be libel- lous that is not defamatory of a person, but that impairs the value of his property. The law assumes the falsity of a defamatory publication until the truth is shown, and if the publication is false, malice is also an assump- tion of the law, unless the publication is priv- ileged. It is not necessary that the party pub- lishing be actuated by a feeling of personal hatred or ill-will toward the person defamed, or even that it be done in the pursuit of any general evil purpose or design. It is enough if the act be done wilfully, and unlawfully, and in violation of the just rights of another, ac- cording to the general definition of legal mal- ice. Injury is conclusively assumed to follow a false and defamatory publication. 224 ENGINEEKING LITEKATTJKE In a civil action, the truth is a complete de- fense, but if prosecuted criminally, the person charged with libel cannot plead that the pub- lication was true unless he can show that it was made from good motives and for justifi- able ends. In any case, the writer should be sure of his ability to .prove the strict truth of every part of the charge to the complete satisfaction of a jury. Even then such a pub- lication is generally injudicious. An unqualified retraction is no defense, but will tend in mitigation of damages. There is a large class of defamatory publi- cations spoken of as "privileged," to which the usual assumption that they are prompted by malice does not apply. This class includes reports of judicial and legislative proceedings, comments upon the policy of the government and upon public matters and the conduct of public men, and criticisms of theatrical, mu- sical, artistic, and literary works. If a report of a judicial or legislative pro- ceeding is made fairly and in good faith, there is no civil or criminal liability. It must, how- ever, be free from objectionable comment, whether in the body of the report or in the heading. Proceedings before church organ- izations, societies, and clubs, for the discipline of their members, partake somewhat of the nature of trials in the courts, and language used in them is privileged, prima facie, so far LAW OF LIBEL 225 as it has pertinency to the matter under con- sideration. An editor may use a heading prop- erly indicative of the nature of a trial, if it does not amount to comment. A reporter may say that a person has been arrested on a cer- tain charge, but it would, of course, be action- able to assume the guilt of the prisoner. It is libellous to quote a libellous charge which any- one else has made, unless the charge was made in open court or before a legislative body. It is no defense that the libellous language was copied from another newspaper. Criticism cannot be defamation unless it strikes at personal character. It is protected, therefore, not because it is privileged, but be- cause it is not defamation. However severe it may be, however unjust in the opinion of men capable of judging, 'so long, in England at least, as the critic confines himself to what is there called "fair criticism" of another's works, the act cannot be treated as a breach of duty. The criticism of works of art, whether painting, sculpture, monument, or architecture, falls within this rule. The conduct, too, of public men, amenable to the public only, and of candidates for public office, is a matter proper for public discussion. It may be made the subject of hostile criticism and animad- version so long as the writer keeps within the bounds of an honest intention to discharge a duty to the public, and does not make the 226 ENGINEEEING LITEKATUEE occasion a mere cover for promulgating false and defamatory allegations. Criticism of pub- lic men should be limited to matters touching their qualifications for the performance of the duties pertaining to the position that they hold or seek. Any person who takes part in the publica- tion of a libel is civilly and criminally respon- sible for it. This responsibility attaches to the author, editor, proprietor, printer, and seller of the book or newspaper containing the arti- cle. Proprietors, publishers, and editors are liable for the publication of libellous matter in their prints, though the publication may have been made without their knowledge or even against their orders. This is not true of news- vendors ; it is held that if the alleged libel were of such a nature that a man of common intelli- gence could not know that it was intended for a libel, and it was not in fact known that it was, neither the editor nor the proprietor of the printing establishment or of the print would be liable. Local statutes affect the law of libel materi- ally, and every newspaper publisher and writer should acquaint himself with the statutes of his own State. For instance, the Massachu- setts law reads: "In an action for libel or slander, the de- fendant may introduce in evidence, in mitiga- tion of damages and in rebuttal of evidence of LAW OF LIBEL 227 actual malice, acts of the plaintiff which create a reasonable suspicion that the matters charged against him by the defendant are true." This important provision may or may not exist somewhere else. Contempt of court is a serious offense expos- ing to the liability of summary punishment an attorney who resorts to the public press in order to influence the proceedings in a pending case ; an editor who prints any libellous matter relative to court proceedings, tending to im- pair public confidence and respect in them, even though the matter is also indictable as such ; a party to an impending case who before trial circulates printed statements to the preju- dice of the other party; anybody who pub- lishes a report of the proceedings of a trial contrary to the direct order of the court, or publishes such report with comments likely to prejudice the rights of the parties ; and, gen- erally, all persons who perform acts tending to interfere substantially with the efficient serv- ice of the courts in the administration of jus- tice. Headlines likely to bias jurymen are particularly reprehensible. One may be pun- ished for contempt by reason of publishing a libel on a grand or petit jury. It is contempt for a reporter to conceal himself in the jury room, and to report the deliberations of the jurors. XVII PREPARATION OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOR REPRODUCTION There is probably no other adjunct to the making of technical literature which is so little understood and so carelessly handled as the preparation of the necessary text illustrations. And yet many publications depend for their principal value upon the illustrations which accompany the text matter. It follows, there- fore, that poorly rendered illustrations will de- tract not only from the appearance, but also from the usefulness, of a book or paper, as compared with illustrations neatly and clearly executed, correctly drawn as to details, and legibly lettered. Of the cuts used in printing there are, in general, five different kinds half-tones, line- cuts, wood-cuts, stereotypes, and electrotypes, the latter two being but reproductions of the first three. Strictly speaking there are but two kinds half-tones and line-cuts. Wood-cuts are line-cuts, but the term "line-cut" has become so generally associated with the chemically- * The greater part of this matter is abstracted from article by Chas. W. Reinhardt, in "Engineering 1 News," Feby. 15, 1906. 228 REPRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS 229 etched zinc plate that when line-cuts are spoken of the zinc plate is the one usually re- ferred to. For the reproduction of line drawings, the following methods are in use: 1. Wax engraving process 2. Photo-lithography. 3. Photo-engraving on zinc. For the reproduction of wash drawings or photographs, the half-tone process is used. Wax Engraving Process. In the "wax process" the original, either a tracing, or a blue-print, or pencil sketch on detail paper, is photographed in the desired size upon the sensitized waxed surface of a copper plate. The outlines of the drawing are then scratched through this wax enamel down to the blackened copper backing by means of different sized gravers. The lettering on such a drawing is set up in type and stamped into the softened wax. The finished wax engraving is "electrotyped," the film-like copper covering on the wax mold is backed with type-metal, mounted "type-high," and is then ready for printing. The wax engraving is considered by numbers of technical men as the acme of perfection, since the lines print clean and sharp and the lettering is legible. Such illustrations have a smooth and finished appearance, but they are to a large extent routine copies of poor orig- 230 ENGINEERING LITERATURE inals, with more or less liability of errors and omissions, as every line must be ruled in by hand and all the lettering must be reproduced by setting type and impressing it in the wax. Since it is easier to get superficially passable results from a poor drawing by means of the wax process than by the processess to be de- scribed later, there is perhaps more likelihood that poor material for illustrations will be used for the wax than for the other processes. The clear, even lines and uniform, legible let- tering of the wax engraving give rise to many illustrations which are of little use for pur- poses of careful study. This is most likely to be true when the illustrations are complex. For simple line drawings and diagrams the wax process is commendable, especially where the services of good draftsmen are not avail- able. Photo-Lithography and Photo-Engraving. When an author or publisher wishes to make sure of a facsimile reduction of as perfect a line drawing as is needed for his purpose, he will have it reproduced by photo-lithography or by photo-engraving on zinc. Photo-lith- ography is generally employed for making large-sized illustrations for folding sheets and insets, which cannot very well be handled economically by the ordinary printing press. The originals require the same finish as those used for the zinc process. The photographs, REPRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS 231 reduced to the desired size, are transferred to a polished lithographic storie, which, after being re-etched, is ready to print from in the lithographic press. Original photographs may also be reproduced in this way, giving the same general result as by the more familiar half- tone process, described further on. A line engraving on zinc is produced by first printing a reversed negative, made from a large original, upon a polished and sensitized zinc plate. When inked by means of a printing roller, the ink adheres to the black lines of the plate, corresponding to those on the orig- inal drawing. Powdered resin is then sprin- kled over the plate. It adheres to the ink lines, and on being heated it melts and forms a protective covering against the etching solu- tion. This solution is next poured over the plate and is allowed to remain until it eats out enough of the metal between the lines to leave the latter in clear relief. More metal is then removed or "routed" from between the lines by means of a finishing tool. Finally, the zinc plate is mounted upon a wood block and is ready for use in the printing press. Preparation of Drawings. The process thus briefly outlined requires in the way of original drawings pure black lines on a clear white or bluish-white background. The medium upon which to draw may therefore be white paper, tracing paper, or transparent 232 ENGINEERING LITEEATUEE vellum. Buff colored paper has sometimes yielded fair results, but its use is not advisable. It must be remembered from the very outset that the drawing is to be made for a certain amount of reduction, generally large, and that consequently it must be made so that when reduced its details will still be recognizable, its lines still separated from each other, and, above all, lettering and descriptive symbols must be readily legible. The reductions to which drawings are sub- jected may vary all the way from " one-half" to "nine-tenths"; that is to say, from one -half to one-tenth the original size (linear measure). An easy reduction to work for may be called the " two-thirds" reduction, or to one-third the linear measure of the original. The lines in such a drawing will have to be neither too bold nor too fine, and the lettering may be made of moderate size. As stated above, the draftsman must know from the very outset the rate of reduction and must proceed accord- ingly, always having in mind, for instance, that for a two -thirds reduction his lines must be three times the width of those on the final proof taken from the finished plate. This rule, however, need not be carried out rigidly, because fairly fine, black lines, having a ridge of ink on top, will always possess a value in photographing, and will consequently be re- corded upon the negative. Some draftsmen are REPRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS 233 in the habit of screwing up the nibs of the ruling pen tightly, so as to produce a fine line. The result is that the ink is squeezed out be- neath the points and a gray, very fine line will result, which will either not photograph at all or come out only in spots. Therefore, it is advisable never to try to introduce too fine lines into any drawing, and it is necessary to make sure that all lines are perfectly black. When working for reduction a drawing should always be presented in its essential de- tails ; all unnecessary center-lines, invisible and construction lines, as well as dimensioning, should be omitted. In order to make clear the construction of whatever object may have to be presented, a certain amount of outline shad- ing, very boldly executed, may prove of great value. The shading should be heavy and de- cisive, the shade-lines being five or six times as heavy as the ordinary outlines. The drafts- man must be quite sure in his own mind as to what part must "stand out," as, also, what portions should be shown as receding, and shade accordingly. Center-lines should be shown the strength of ordinary outlines. The neatest symbol, and most suggestive perhaps, is the "dash and dot" line, with regular spacing between, showing dashes shorter than is customary at present. Invisible and construction lines should only be employed where clearness demands their use; 234 ENGINEERING LITERATURE short dashes will answer very well for that style of lines. Dimension lines in a well ex- ecuted drawing should be the least prominent of all, and should therefore be shown in very short, light dashes or dots, leaving open spaces for the dimensions themselves. In this way the solid outlines of the drawing are not in any way interfered with ; the eye takes in at a glance the object itself; all auxiliary lines are thus made of secondary importance. Additional clearness may at times be gained by introducing a few touches of curved sur- face shading, where such will aid the under- standing of a certain shape, which perhaps is not otherwise made clear by any other view. Such shading, where properly executed, will greatly improve the appearance of a drawing, but is unfortunately often used indiscrim- inately, and in such cases detracts from the clearness of the illustration. In the style of shading there is a special tendency for the draftsman to use too close a spacing. "Where portions of a view are to appear in section, the proper section-lining should conscientiously be used, being quite sure that all such parts are properly designated in this way. Parts shown in elevation should under no circum- stances receive any such ruling; a very rigid distinction should always be made between parts in section and parts in elevation by the use of correct sectioning in the former only. REPRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS 23H The lettering of a drawing which has been finished up to that point must be put in with a view of purely supplementing the draw- ing, and perhaps the accompanying text mat- ter. It should all be placed so that it may be read from the base and the right-hand side of the sheet. A proper distribution of such de- scriptive matter in the shape of notations, titles and numerals will wonderfully enhance the appearance of a drawing the reverse also holds good. There should be no attempt to crowd dimensions, reference letters or small notes into their respective spaces where such are too small. Instead, they should be placed boldly outside or opposite, as the case may be, and dotted reference lines used, with arrow- heads attached. This rule should be adhered to especially where there is no great amount of lettering used, so that in such a case the outlines of the figures are permitted to stand out clearly and distinctly by themselves. The style of lettering used depends, of course, greatly upon usage and individual preference; but no lettering for reduction work can com- pare in legibility and rapidity of execution with the so-called one-stroke Gothic lettering, either inclined or vertical. The inclined style can with advantage be used for all purely de- scriptive matter, dimensions, notations, etc. ; the upright lettering will naturally commend itself for sub-captions, reference letters and 236 ENGINEERING LITERATURE main divisions, which ought to be emphasized. The so-called "all-cap" lettering requires more time to construct, and is not so readily legible as the "cap-and-lower-case" lettering, which latter style has for those reasons come into almost universal favor. Main titles or cap- tions for any reproduction can cheaply and neatly be set up in type ; therefore the con- struction of such by hand on any drawing for photo-reproduction is nearly always useless and expensive. Underlining of lettering is undesirable, as it tends to distract attention from the outlines of the drawing itself. As the one-stroke lettering is supposed to be drawn in uniform strength of body, a specific mode of procedure becomes necessary the direction of stroke and their sequence ought to be carefully studied by every draftsman. The different reductions to which a drawing may have to be subjected require, of course, different sizes of lettering, and well worn pens of different makes can be used to produce just the requisite strength of body for the letters, with one application for each stroke, for the strength of the body of the letters must be in accordance with their respective sizes. For lettering on a drawing above a "five-sixths" reduction (i. e., to be reduced to one-sixth its original length), a stiff, red sable brush cn be used with advantage. In order to be legible to the average reader, the lettering on any repro- REPRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS 237 duction should not come out smaller than uni- formly one millimeter high in the small lower- case letters, such as ''a," "e," "m," "n," for instance. The other letters must, of course, show in proportion. Therefore the lettering on an original, which, for example, is to be re- duced three-fourths (i. e., one-fourth its pres- ent length), must be made in the small lower- case letters mentioned four millimeters high, with strength of body in proportion. A draw- ing thus lettered up and executed will stand a much greater reduction and yet show legible and clear; nevertheless, the standards given here have been followed where absolutely good work has been essential. Corrections and erasures should be very carefully made, as the brownish tint so often noticeable on tracing- cloth where erasures have occurred will show on the negative obtained by photographing, and must be attended to separately. Such places can be covered up by painting Chinese white over the spots affected. Very often the reproductions are overloaded with non-essential details, every center-line being shown, the dimension lines all ruled in solid, and a mass of almost illegible lettering being spread over the whole illustration. The reader of such illustration is put to consider- able trouble to interpret the drawing; he has to make his own' deductions, read between the lines, as it were, and often gives up the task 238 ENGINEEKING LITERATURE in disgust. All this is caused by reproducing an unsuitably drawn and lettered illustration, almost useless, at the best; certainly not serv- ing as an ornament to the publication in which it appears. There is no reason why many original draw- ings cannot be made so bold, in both lines and letters, that instead of having the original blue-printed in the ordinary cumbersome way they could simply be photographed down to perhaps one-fourth their length. Portfolios containing such reduced original drawings are exceedingly handy and serviceable, and are certainly far superior to the unwieldy and at times almost unmanageable roll of blue-prints, which otherwise have to be handled. It may be mentioned as a curiosity that some- times pencil-drawings on tracing paper have given good results in reproduction; the pencil lines being black enough to possess some value in the exposure. Occasionally it becomes necessary to repro- duce an illustration taken directly from some book, pamphlet or periodical. Such a repro- duction cannot be reduced very much, and from the outset of such operation it must be determined just how much reduction it can "stand." The outlines of the illustration to be reproduced can with some care be retouched where ragged or broken. The principal part to be amended on such a sheet is the lettering, REPRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS 239 which, as a rule, is poorly done and much too small. Such portions of the lettering as are essential can be pasted over with slips of white paper and the parts re-lettered to the right size upon the paper; the portions not wanted may be obliterated by simply painting over with Chinese white. The dimension lines, which generally were drawn as solid lines, can be cut up with a brush or a fine pen dipped into a solution of Chinese white, so as to pro- duce dotted lines to designate dimensions. The center lines, likewise, can be cut up into regu- larly spaced, small dots and dashes; the invis- ible or construction lines can either be "painted out altogether or similarly treated. Where outline shading is absent on reproductions, such shading may sometimes be added, if the paper possesses a fairly good surface. Such a remodeled drawing shows up very well in the proper reduction, and can be made fully as serviceable for purposes of study as a well- executed original drawing. Half-tone Process. The principles of the so- called "half-tone process" are similar to those governing the making of line-engravings, with the exception that the original, consist- ing either of wash-drawing or a photograph, is photographed through a screen. The im- pression recorded on the sensitized plate thereby is a number of opaque dote of vary- ing size, the white sections of the orig- 240 ENGINEERING LITERATURE inal assuming the largest size, the dots grow- ing smaller in the darker portion until they are completely lost in the solid blacks. The effect is a picture in dots, the varying shades and tints being depicted by various sized dots. The impression from the reversed negative is taken upon a highly polished, sensitized copper plate, which, after repeated etchings, is ready for the wood mounting. The finishing of such a plate consists in local re-etching, a procedure which will diminish the size of the dots in places, making them print lighter in the fin- ished picture. At times the dark or black por- tions may have to be "polished" in, the fine white dots in such places thereby being oblit- erated, so that these portions will print per- fectly black. Where repeated local re-etching fails to do justice to the high lights shown in the original, such parts may boldly be en- graved out by a skillful finisher, so that they may print absolutely clear white. Preparation of Photographs. If a highly finished picture is wanted, exhibiting high lights and deep shadows, or where the judg- ment of the finisher is not exactty trusted, resort must be had to retouching the original photograph. On the ordinary brown or solio prints the high lights are painted in with pure Chinese white, or the same mixed with vermillion, so as to somewhat match the tone of the photograph. Deep shadows are REPRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS 241 produced by lampblack with a trifle of vermil- lion added. Solid blacks can be effected by the use of India ink. The purpose arrived at in all cases is, of course, to somewhat exaggerate the contrasts, as the interposition of the screen in photographing the original will have a ten- dency to reduce values and more or less flatten the tints. At times the contours of an object shown may be so shadowy against the back- ground that a little outlining in a light neutral color may be all that is required. Such outline may sometimes be done effectively in a slightly lighter color, where dark surfaces adjoin. Nowadays some beautiful work is being done by professional retouchers with the aid of the air-brush, which is worked by compressed air. The illustrations for trade catalogues, with magnificent cloud backgrounds, etc., are nearly all prepared in this way. Most photographs will be found to have a glazed or polished surface, which will not re- ceive water colors readily. In such cases the surface can be gone over gently with an ordi- nary artist's rubber, taking care not to cause any streaks or scratches. At times some rub- bing with the tip of the finger to which a little powdered pumice has been applied, may be effective upon refractory portions. Retouching of "Velox" prints can be done with neutral colors without any admixture of vermillion or brown. Here the black gener- 242 ENGINEEEING LITEEATUEE ally needs reinforcing. On dull Velox prints good work can sometimes be done with an ordinary H B drawing pencil. As occasionally reproductions from line-en- graving can be effectively "doctored up," so also proofs from half-tones may be prepared for a new reproduction. The proofs cut from magazines or trade-papers can be mounted, and where judiciously retouched will give very good results. The only difficulty which en- gravers generally encounter in this class of work is the matching of their screen upon the screen which the original contains. If this cannot be done correctly a peculiarly mottled effect upon the surface of the new plate will result. At times it may become desirable, for one purpose or another, to entirely redraw an un- satisfactory small illustration, or to make a pen-and-ink sketch from a photograph. In such a case a "silver-print" enlargement is made from the original ; the silver-print is mounted and is ready for drawing. The light- brown tint of such a print permits of distin- guishing the lines drawn upon it; only the ab- solutely necessary outlines should be drawn upon the print with waterproof ink; parts which ought to be amended or points to be pre- served and nevertheless to be modified in ex- ecution can be drawn on in pencil. After this has been done the print is bleached in an en- KEPRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS 243 ameled pan with a bichloride of mercury solu- tion, the application of which will cause the photographic color to disappear, leaving only the pure white paper, with black ink, or occa- sional pencil outlines upon it. After rinsing in clean water the print is ready to continue with when dry. Such a drawing can be fin- ished in the style advocated above ; a pen-and- ink sketch can be executed purely in black and white, following the technic observed in an etching, or a newspaper illustration. Small mistakes can be rectified by painting over with Chinese white. A good rule to follow is to draw general outlines on such prints suffi- ciently heavy, as the reflection of the pure white background upon the black lines will have a tendency to make them appear too narrow in photographing. As a rule, all pen- and-ink portraits for periodicals are made in this manner. A drawing upon a bleached sil- ver-print should never be exposed very long to bright light, as otherwise the original brownish tint of the print will begin to reap- pear, a matter which would make a good photo- reprodugtios of tfae drawing impossible. XVIII THE MAKING OF A BOOK The publisher of a large technical weekly was asked on one occasion by a reader for some copies of an issue of several weeks previous, the supply of which happened to be exhausted. When told that the copy was out of print and could not be obtained, the reader inquired, ""Why couldn't you have your stationer run off a few copies for me?" This remark was not intended to be humorous ; it was an inquiry made in good faith, and although an extreme case, it serves to show that many readers have little or no idea of the methods used and the work involved in producing a finished publica- tion, either book or periodical. Printing "The art preservative of all arts" may seem, to the hasty observer, like one of the simplest of arts. Any child with a simple knowledge of spelling, can arrange lettered blocks in readable words ; again, with a toy press any child can stamp paper with inked type neatly and deftly. The arrangement of letters and making their impressions are rated by many as the great features of printing. These elementary processes are so simple that persons who would not attempt the work of 244 MAKING OF A BOOK 245 any craft aside from their own specialties, are confident of their ability to make, or direct the making of, a book, but in real prac- tice this apparent simplicity disappears. The establishment that undertakes to manufacture books, must be provided with tons of type of various faces and sizes ; it needs type-making and type-setting machines of great complexity and cost, large and expensive presses, and a great variety of machinery for electrotyping, folding the sheets, and binding the books. All this machinery but relieves the drudgery of manual labor, leaving still the necessity of a high degree of skill in craftsmanship, requir- ing for the attainment of the best results both practical experience and a theoretical knowl- edge of the many processes involved. Although there are a great many factors to be taken into account in the making of a book, for general explanatory purposes, the work may be divided into two divisions : the prepar- atory work, or the preparation of the manu- script; and the work of manufacture, or the actual mechanical production. The first of these concerns the author and the publisher and has already been treated in detail. The second division deals with the composition, proof-reading, illustrating, paper stock, electro- typing, presswork, binding, etc. After the work is finished, a third and very important feature of the business comes into play, namely, 246 ENGINEEEING LITERATUKE the marketing of the book, which involves criti cisms and reviews, systems of publicity, whole- sale and retail trading, and other matters no1 within the scope of the present work. THE PHYSICAL SIDE OP BOOKS To book readers, as well as to those who work among books, it is worth while to become familiar with their make-up; their binding, paper, typography, etc. To learn about these things pays, because knowledge of them adds to the sum of one's interest and because much of the knowledge one may acquire about them is of actual use in daily work, helping to judge of book values, to order bindings with discrim- ination, and to handle books with good judg- ment. Again, because in learning about the physical features of a book one not only gets useful information on several trades that are parts of the broader trade of bookmaking, but acquires also that habit of criticising or appre- ciating which tends to the development of good taste and to an interest in objects of art and general culture. The physical features of a book include paper, ink, and binding, which may be either of paper, cloth, or leather. On the quality of these depends the durability of the book. The fears that have often been expressed, are no doubt true, that the bulk of the cheaper PHYSICAL SIDE OF BOOKS 247 books published to-day will soon totally disap- pear as a result of bad paper and poor binding. In the past when books were considered worth printing, they were also considered worth pre- serving, and they wore out in service only. When they were doomed to a long undisturbed stay on the library shelf, they were often bored full of holes by worms, but after several cen- turies of existence, the paper remained tough and sound, the ink was black, and the stout leather or pig-skin bindings still performed their duty of firmly holding together the printed leaves. The paper in these books was hand-made of linen rags, carefully and hon- estly manufactured; the sheets were strongly stitched together with good flaxen thread; the binding was made of honest leather, slowly tanned, and as a result sound and long-lived ; and the book thus made was a thing to be preserved and to be enjoyed, not for one life- time only, but for generations. But an exam- ination of the books that are produced in such quantities to-day, that have stood upon library shelves for a comparatively few years, or that have had much use, will show marked evi- dences of quick deterioration, principally on account of poor papers and bindings. Papers. Book papers are made from linen, cotton, and hemp rags, and wood fibres; also among other materials, from the waste prod- ucts of sugar cane, corn stalks, wild clover, 248 ENGINEERING LITERATURE esparto, and several other plants which have a good fibre. In linen and cotton the fibres are longer than those of the other substances men- tioned and as they consist of a very pure form of cellulose, which is exceedingly resistant to all changes, such rags yield papers of the high- est quality and the greatest durability, and are, therefore, used mostly in manufacturing fine writing papers, ledgers, and book covers, where strength is necessary. At the present time the output of the book publishers is so great that linen and cotton rags are no longer available for the manufacture of ordinary pa- per, and we are forced to resort to wood pulp, the stock usually used for books being made from spruce or fir pulp. The wood is reduced or disintegrated either by sulphurous acid or by caustic soda or by grinding, the last process being used for stock in very low grades of paper, such as news- papers and wrapping paper, but rarely for book paper. This chemically treated wood, as well as straw and esparto, have much shorter fibres than rags, and also contain compound celluloses which are subject to change, result- ing in the slow disintegration of papers made therefrom. What is known as " mechanical" or "ground" wood, which is merely spruce wood ground very fine into pulp, has even shorter fibres, and contains, in addition to com- pound celluloses, other bodies which are sub- PHYSICAL SIDE OF BOOKS 249 ject to rapid decay. Paper made from this ground vrood lasts but a very short time and almost immediately discolors on exposure to light and air, so should not be used for ar- ticles of Tnore than a transient value. It should be said, however, that paper made from properly prepared chemical wood fibre has endured from the time of the practical in- troduction of this fibre to the present, a period of less than fifty years. Exact knowledge re- garding its durability as compared with that made from rags, cannot, therefore, be had for many years, but it must not be inferred that papers made from rags alone are always more durable and stronger than papers made from other raw materials. Low quality rags or se- verely treated rags may yield a weaker or less durable paper than is produced from materials which in their original state are inferior. When paper is honestly and carefully made from chemically treated wood, it will doubt- lessly have a considerable life, and it will prob- ably last as long as the materials impressed upon it will warrant in this fast-moving age. But when the chemicals used in bleaching, etc., are not well washed out from the pulp, and its processes of manufacture are lowered to the cheapest point, the resulting paper becomes dis- colored in time, so as to be very objectionable to the eye and to be so rotten and brittle that the merest touch or strain will cause it to 250 ENGINEEKING LITERATURE break. In the presswork of this cheap type of books is often found pale ink, blurred and careless printing, and poor impressions of the illustrations. In the higher grades of paper, both the wood and the rag stock are treated and prepared in the same way. and only practically pure cel- lulose matter goes into the paper, so that pa- pers for fine books, while made chiefly of rags, may also successfully be made of wood. The extensive use of half-tone illustrations in the works of to-day also has a marked influ- ence on the character of the paper, and thus upon the life of the book. The rough-surfaced, strong paper of a generation ago is altogether unsuited to the printing of this substitute for the old copper or steel-plate illustration. The low relief and finely etched surface of the half- tone requires the employment of a smooth-sur- faced, highly-glazed paper for its best presen- tation to which fact is due some of the most serious criticisms of modern book papers. We owe to this photo-etching process a wealth of il- lustrations never before dreamed of, but we sometimes pay too high a price for this added factor in book-making in the impermanence of the book itself. For example, the paper used in some of the higher-class publications may be of the best of the glazed and sized variety of paper made by modern processes, and the re- engraved half-tone illustrations used may rep- PHYSICAL SIDE OF BOOKS 251 resent the highest type of modern illustrative work. Yet, dampness will cause these highly sized pages to stick together so tightly that separation means destruction, and few of the readers of these publications are aware of the fact that with a wet sponge any illustration can be completely washed off, together with the coating on the surface of the paper. On the other hand, the old wood cut and the old copper plate were proof against water; and while the page might be stained with water, the reading matter was still clear and acces- sible, and the book was practically uninjured by dampness unless this was so long continued as to rot the paper. Another objectionable feature of modern bookmaking is the tendency to "load" the pa- per with clay, sulphate of lime, or other white insoluble mineral matter; a treatment in- tended to increase its opacity and to give it a smooth surface. The quantity of "loading" contained in machine-finish and supercalen- dered papers varies from 2 to 30 per cent, and in coated papers from 12 to 35 per cent. The loading materials add weight, but having no fibre themselves, they weaken the paper, mak- ing it usually brittle and easily torn. Further, it is sometimes carried to such an extent that the book thus made is a perfect nuisance from the weight alone. That this loading is not nec- essary in all cases is shown by many instances 252 ENGINEERING LITERATUKE of books weighing but one-half as much as other books of the same size and number of pages, but made of loaded paper; both classes of books are bulky, but the one is easily han- dled and read, while the other is objectionable by reason of its weight. Comparing the text it will be found that the loaded book is nearly always illustrated with many half-tones, which, as has already been said, require for their proper presentation a smooth surfaced paper; the other has no illustrations, but is built up of sound paper, somewhat rough of surface, not bleached to the extent of making the color un- pleasing to the eye, and the impression is good and the type is very readable. The paper stock used in the glazed and sized paper is usually of a cheaper character, as this class of paper seems to lend itself better to the process, but even were the paper in these two books of the same quality originally, the heavy pressure and the effect of the heat in passing through the rolls in the calendering process seem to take some of the life out of it and to render the paper stock more brittle and not so lasting. While the durability of paper is controlled primarily by the kind of stock and by the methods used in making it, it also depends much on the conditions of use and storage to which the paper is frequently subjected. Inferior grades of paper are often affected by bacteria and insects which thrive wherever food, PHYSICAL SIDE OF BOOKS 253 moisture, temperature, and reaction of the material are suitable. This trouble is largely controlled by the composition of the paper as pure cellulose is but slowly attacked and then only under favorable conditions, while paper containing no starch, glue, or other nitrogenous sizing material is least attacked by insects. When paper is exposed constantly to fumes, particularly to acid fumes, such as are pro- duced by gas lights, its durability is decreased. The life of books is shortened by their frequent and careless handling, and by the frequent folding and improper binding of the sheets, which may be either too tight or too loose. Besides the regular paper stock used in the making of the book there is a lining paper, used to line the insides of the covers. In most books this is simply a sheet of the same paper on which the book is printed, the first and last leaves being pasted down to the covers, front and back. But many books, and especially the carefully bound ones, have lining papers selected with regard to their size and charac- ter, to the color of the leather on their backs and of the paper or cloth on their sides. Manifestly the purchaser of paper cannot know, even by the most careful examination, that it has been made in accordance with the best methods known to paper makers, except as those methods reveal their effects indirectly to certain chemical, physical, and microscopical 254 ENGINEERING LITERATURE tests. Not all paper need be of the highest quality and greatest durability. The quantity of raw material available will not permit this, nor do the purposes for which the paper is used always justify it. Low-grade materials may, therefore, quite properly be mixed with high-grade or used alone, the proportions of the mixture being governed by the character of the paper desired and the purposes for which it is to be used. Finally, paper that is well made and of good materials does not always meet all require- ments. From the broad economic view it is highly important that the consumer be not bur- dened with an unnecessary weight or bulk of material, and that raw materials be conserved. For these reasons, papers should not be need- lessly heavy nor bulky. Any additional weight or bulk beyond that which is necessary to se- cure sufficient strength, opacity, and resistance to wear and tear results in lessened durability, greater cost of handling and transporation, needless consumption of raw materials, in- creased space for storage and inconvenience in handling. Book papers, as a rule, weigh 48 pounds or more per ream (24x36 ins.), and are from 0.0035 to 0.0070 inch thick. The sav- ing in raw materials, labor, and storage space, and in freight, express, and mailing expenses which would result from the use of lighter and PHYSICAL SIDE OF BOOKS 255 better paper would go far towards paying the extra expense of making it. Inks. Printing inks consist of a pigment, black, white, or colored, ground into a suitable varnish. The pigment is that constituent which makes the impression visible; the var- nish is the vehicle which carries the pigment during the operation of grinding and during its distribution on the presses to the type, from the type to the paper, and ultimately binds it to the paper. The machinery used to accom- plish this grinding 1 and mixing consists, first, of mixers, in w T hich the ingredients are thor- oughly incorporated with each other. This be- ing done, the resulting mixture, or "pulp," is ground up in mills formed of cylinders set in close contact. Between these rolls the pulp is passed again and again, the number of times being dependent upon the consistency of the ink and the nature of the pigments, until it is ground to the utmost fineness. The result is printing ink as it is known to the printer, vary- ing in consistency, strength, intensity, perma- nency, brilliancy, drying, and other working qualities, according to the nature of the vari- ous varnishes, dryers, and pigments from which it is made. Bindings. Bindings are customarily of pa- per, cloth, and leather. The paper covers are used for pamphlets and cheap editions of fiction, and are made in an endless variety of quality, 256 ENGINEERING LITERATURE weight, and color. The great majority oi books of all kinds are now bound in cloth, but until the beginning of the last century cloth was almost unknown as a material for covering a book. Books were then very costly, being printed by hand on paper made by hand, and were considered worthy of the most lasting bindings. As the life of books depends greatly on the strength and wearing qualities of the covers, such materials as wood, vellum, and leather, often reinforced with metal, were gen- erally used. During the past century, improve- ments in methods and machinery so reduced the cost of the printed sheets that a demand arose for a correspondingly cheaper material for bindings. The want was satisfactorily met by the use of cloth, and from the day that it was first used it has become more and more a factor in book manufacturing. Book cloths, from their appearance and manufacture, fall into two divisions: the first, called " solid col- ors," consists of those in which the threads of the cloth are not easily distinguishable; the second consists of the "linens" and the "buck- rams," in which each thread, with the imper- fections and peculiarities of the weaving, is plainly seen and forms a large part of their picturesque effect. The first of the "solid colors" to be used was black cloth, but they are now made in many colors, though chiefly in simple pro- PHYSICAL SIDE OF BOOKS 257 nounced shades, such as browns, blues, greens, and reds. These cloths are dyed and sized with a stiffening preparation, and are used in vari- ous patterns which are embossed on the surface during the process of manufacture. Of the second division of cloths, in which the appearance of the threads becomes a part of the effect, there are first, the "linen" cloths. The chief characteristic of these is that the coloring used fills the interstices, but allows all the threads to be clearly seen. The irregularities of the weaving, therefore, stand out plainly and produce, to a certain extent, the appearance of woven linen fabrics. The linen cloths are specially used for school and other books which are constantly handled, as their construction shows less wear than do the solid colors. A linen cloth, observed through a microscope which magnifies the threads to a coarseness of about forty to an inch, gives the exact appear- ance of a "buckram," which is well adapted to large books and which furnishes the most desirable binding of all kinds of book cloths. For technical books buckram is altogether sat- isfactory. It can be obtained in almost any weight, color, and smoothness or roughness of surface. It is strong, looks well, and wears well, and it will take a stamped label or a leather or paper label. It is made of the same material as the "linen" cover but is usually 258 ENGINEEEING LITEEATUEE heavier in the thread and therefore lasts longer. Buckrams are sometimes embossed to imitate in part the appearance of an irregularly woven fabric called " crash." This is a special cloth which might be classed with the buckrams, and when suitably used is a very artistic material. "Basket cloth" is still another material which could be included with the buckrams. In this grade of cloth the threads are woven in squares resembling a basket mesh, from which fact the name is derived. For leather bindings there is hardly any part of the world that has not been drawn upon for suitable skins. These are generally goat, seal, pigskin, cowhide, calf, and sheep, and they vary in quality according to the country they come from and the manner in which they are cared for, the stall-fed animals, or those that are protected from storm and have regular food, producing the best skins. But leather for binding purposes, as now made, is not a lasting substance, and almost invariably the modern leather binding soon falls to pieces. One cause of this is that a single hide is now split into two, three, or more pieces after it has been rapidly tanned by modern processes. The leather is made weaker by the treatment it has received, and the splitting makes it weaker still ; the life has gone out of it 'and it quickly deteriorates and will in time crumble into dust under the fingers. This is especially true of PHYSICAL SIDE OF BOOKS 259 the so-called ' 'sheepskin" binding. Our highly- heated offices and houses also hasten this de- structive action by drying out the little oil that is left in the leather. As a rule, a full cloth binding is more lasting than the full or half leather binding. But were it not the case that leather manufacturers are able, by using split- ting machines, to split skins so that both parts of a skin can be used, it would be impossible for the binder to supply the needs of his cus- tomers as the output does not keep pace with the demand; in fact, binders are constantly looking for substitutes. The most durable material for book-binding was discussed in a report of the Librarian of Congress issued in 1903. He has found that duck of suitable quality is more durable than most leathers of modern tannage and this cloth is now generally used in the Library of Con- gress. This material also seems to provide the best insurance known against the injury result- ing from rebinding. Good duck bindings are almost indestructible. In general, the quality and cost of bindings increase in the following order: paper, board, cloth, skiver, roan, calf-skin, russia, turkey mo- rocco, levant morocco. Parchment, vellum, and hog-skin are classed as exceptional bindings. Modern methods of bookmaking have doubt- less come to stay, and we can and do make as good paper as our ancestors when this paper 260 ENGINEEEING LITEEATUKE is wanted and paid for; and our typography, presswork, and illustrations and decoration of the book will bear comparison with any pro- duct that has gone before. But this applies to expensive books only, when no money has been spared in their production. In the case of technical books, where much handling demands durability, it will pay to use good paper, good presswork, and good binding, and this is espe- cially so in the case of books for reference. OUTLINE OF WORK OF THE MANUFACTURING DEPARTMENT The manufacture of a book consists primar- ily of the processes of transforming a manu- script into a completed volume. Few publish- ers make their own books ; this work is a spe- cial part of the great field of printing. When the arrangements between the author and the publisher have been completed, and the manu- script has been edited, it is turned over to the manufacturing department with such general instructions regarding the make-up and ap- pearance of the book as may have been decided upon or discussed with the author, who invari- ably, and sometimes unfortunately, has some preconceived notion of what his book should look like. Authors should always bear in mind that their books must be made to sell and to sell they must be made to withstand a certain amount of wear and tear, which must be pro- MAKING OF A BOOK 261 vided for in the process of manufacture. The details of manufacture are much better known to the publisher than they can be to any author. It is the publisher's business to know them; so while the author is always consulted regarding his ideas, and while the publisher endeavors to meet the wishes of the author as far as practicable, the author should allow himself to be guided and advised by his pub- lisher's superior knowledge of the subject. Taking into consideration the details of the book, such as the subject, length, character, style, probable market, appropriate price, pos- sible sales, and number of copies to be issued, and the wishes of the author, the book de- signer draws up specifications for its paper, type, sizes of type-page and trimmed page, headlines, title page, ornaments, binding, and all other details that enter into its construc- tion. The expert book designer must be fa- miliar with every feature of bookmaking, and every book he lays out evidences in all its parts the extent of his skill and knowledge. The first work is the selection of a suitable style and size of type (see page 266) and size of letter-press page for the book. Then a few sample pages are set up and an estimate made of the number of pages that the book will make (see page 270). If the sample pages are not satisfactory, others are set up until a page is finally arrived at that meets the require- 262 ENGINEERING LITERATURE ments of the book and is satisfactory to the publisher and the author. This detail settled, the work of composition is preceded with. Sometimes a book is set up at once in page form, but the usual practice is to send the author the first proofs in galley strips, on which all corrections and alterations should be made before the matter is divided into pages (see page 278). When the page proofs have been passed by the author, the typographer casts the electrotype plates from which the book is to be printed, unless, as is occasionally the case, it is to be printed from type, when no electrotype plates are made. In the meantime, when the number of pages has been definitely determined, and the size of the trimmed book is decided upon, a suitable paper stock is selected and an order placed for the quantity necessary for the proposed edi- tion. In the selection of the paper there must be considered the quality, color, and surface finish most suitable for the class of typography and illustrations that are to be used, and also the bulk, or thickness, that the book must be to make a volume of proper proportions. Upon delivery of the paper to the printer, a full- sized dummy of the book is sometimes made up for the purpose of checking the order given to the paper dealer. If the book is to be illustrated, the draw- ings or photographs submitted are carefully MAKING OF A BOOK 263 gone over, and, when finally approved, they are marked to show the dimensions of repro- duction and sent to the engraver (see page 228) . On receipt of the reproductions and after a satisfactory checking of proofs, the cuts are sent to the typographer or printer for insertion in their proper places in the plates or type- matter of the book. The pages are then made up in forms, usually of sixteen pages each, from which the sheets are printed, and as soon as printing has been completed, the printed sheets are delivered to the binder. A cover design having been decided upon, it is turned over to the die cutter, who then cuts the brass dies used by the binder in stamping the design on the covers. The dies, when fin- ished, are sent to the binder, who stamps off some sample covers until the proper effect has been attained. A few advance copies of the completed book are then made up and bound so that any faults or errors may be caught and remedied before the entire edition is bound. "When everything has been approved, the binder proceeds with the binding of the books. Two of the first completed copies are des- patched to the Library of Congress at Wash- ington for copyright purposes (see page 178), and copies are sent to the publicity depart- ment, which distributes a number to a selected list of periodicals for review purposes, and samples to salesmen and the trade generally. 264 ENGINEEEING LITEEATUEE A question has often been raised regarding vertical lettering on the backs of thin books. In bound books the title should be uniformly in one direction, and the proper direction is from the bottom upwards. In a shelf full of books, some lettered one way, and some the other, either the books lettered from the top downwards must be placed bottom down on the shelf or the persons reading the titles must read some titles upside down, or else to avoid the latter he must shift his position from the right to the left of the book. The only justification, if it can be called such, for let- tering the backs from the top down, is that when a book is lying flat on a table or a desk, title page and cover upwards, the back title is then bottom side down, but the normal place for any considerable number of books, and particularly technical books, when not in use, is on book-shelves, where they naturally stand upright. With periodicals it is different. These are generally filed flat instead of up- right, and hence, when lettered on the backs, the title should read from left to right. This brief outline covers in a general way all the steps in the process of the making of a book. It would be impossible to give in the small space available a thorough explanation of the innumerable details that interweave and overlap each other in the manufacturing de- MAKING OF A BOOK 265 partment, especially when it is considered that as many as forty to fifty different books arc often in process of manufacture at the same time, in some of the larger publishing houses. The necessary virtue to be possessed by the workers in this department is patience ; to them disappointment comes so often that it is the rule rather than the exception from the de- lays due to unavoidable causes, to the blunders of stupid workmen, the broken promises and neglect of authors, and to many other causes too numerous to mention. The first-class manu- facturing man must be more than a mere drudge he must be a lover of books; and if he is such, he can withstand these disappoint- ments and will possess the patience required to carry his work successfully over its erratic course through the press, in many instances for months, until it reaches his hands a completed work of art or a useful and substantial in- strument. Dealing Direct With the Printer. When a book is issued by a publishing house having regular dealings with printers, the publisher attends to all the labor of receiving, recording, and transmitting proofs from the printer to the author, and vice versa. When, however, an author undertakes to deal directly with the printer, he should make a record, with dates, of all manuscript sheets, proofs, etc., sent to the printer or received from him and should 266 ENGINEERING LITERATURE also carry out as nearly as possible the order of receipt and dispatch of proofs, etc., as in the manufacturing department of a regular pub- lishing house. TYPOGRAPHY The two greatest steps in the advancement of the printing art were the invention of mov- able types about the middle of the fifteenth century and the invention of the cylinder press early in the nineteenth century. Printing was done in China at a very early, but indefinite, period, but the invention of movable types in Europe is generally referred to as the inven- tion of printing. The second advance men- tioned did away with the old-fashioned hand- press, producing from 200 to 300 impressions per hour, and by the application of steam and electricity, made possible the modern web per- fecting press, capable of an output of 5,000 to 100,000 complete sheets per hour of -eight to thirty-two pages each, printed on both sides, and pasted and folded. A third advance, of comparatively recent date, was the invention of type-setting, or more properly, type-casting, machines. In some of these the individual types are dispensed with, the line becoming the movable unit; in others, the individual types are made and set as desired. *For much of the matter in this chapter, I am in- debted to Luce's "Writing- for the Press"; De Vinne's books on "The Practice of Typography," and Carnell's small reference book, "Concerning Type." TYPOGRAPHY 267 What Types are Made of. Separate types are made of metal and wood, and are slightly less than an inch (.918-in.) high. Metal types are made of an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony, in various proportions, sometimes with a small percentage of copper or nickel, and are often copper-faced by an electro-chemical process to add to their durability. They are cast in a mold, and are nicked on the bottom for the guidance of the compositor. The larger types, such as used for poster printing, etc., are gen- erally made of close-grained wood apple, maple, box-wood, etc. although celluloid is sometimes employed for the face, being glued to a wood base. Sizes of Types. In typography the unit of measurement is the em the name coming from the part of a line occupied by the letter m, the size of the em varying, of course, with the size of the type. An em of any type is the square of the body of that size of type. Printers have by common consent made the size known as 'pica' the standard of the printing office, and this is used in estimating the cost of composi- tion, the wages of typesetters, and the sizes of pages. It is also used to designate the length of dashes or spaces. Formerly it was the practice of each type- founder to establish his own standards of type sizes, which were designated by names non- pareil, brevier, pica, etc. Owing to the absence 268 ENGINEERING LITERATURE of a uniform standard, sizes of the same name from different typefoundries varied greatly, causing much annoyance and no little addi- tional labor in justifying one with another. This inconvenience led to the adoption, some years ago, of the 'point system,' by which the typefounders of the United States brought about an absolute uniformity of the different sizes. The point system is based on an inch having seventy-two fractional parts, termed 'points,' each size of type being designated according to its fractional relation to the inch, expressed in points; as, '8-point,' '10-point,' etc. Under this system the old names of type bodies (non- pareil, brevier, etc.), have gone out of general use. These lines are set in 'Pica,' and this is the size of the pica em. The 'point' is almost exactly one- twelfth this standard, or to be exact, it is an area .0138 inch long by .0138 inch wide, which figures out to the above mentioned division, or exactly 72 points (or 6 picas) to 0.996 inch (or 35 centimeters). There are 5251 points to the square inch. An '8- point' type is, then, one in which the em is 8 points or eight seventy-seconds of an inch square, having an area of 64 points; the '10- point' is 10 points square, with an area of 100 points, and so on. To find the number of TYPOGEAPHY 269 ems in a square inch of any given type, divide 5251 by the square of the point of the type in question. For example, to find the number of ems in a square inch of 10-point type; 5251-f- 100=521/2. Multiplying this by the number of square inches in the printed page, say 18, gives 945 ems to the page. Larger sizes than 18 point are made in metal up to 120 point and in wood in multiples of pica, known as 10-line pica, 20-line pica, etc., the 12-line pica being 12 lines of pica or just one inch high. These types are used princi- pally for ornamental work and advertising dis- play. Type Measurement is made on a basis of * solid,' that is, not open spaced or 'leaded,' matter. If the matter is leaded, it is never- theless measured by surface area and the pub- lisher charged for it, and the compositor is paid for it, as if it were set solid. To find, or check up, cost of composition at a certain price per 1,000 ems, multiply the number of ems in one line by the number of lines. If the matter is 'solid,' multiply the number of points in the line by 72 and divide the product by the square of the number of points of an em of the type used. If 'leaded,' allow two points for the thickness of the lead, figuring 8-point matter as 10-point, 10-point as 12-point, etc., up and down the page not across. To illustrate; to find the number of ems in an inch of a standard s & P u ex gj g* V-H tn gg<.ss> (^ CO o d) x S?J ,3.8 in descriptive catalogues, reprints of addresses, etc CO > -2 (3 cxu 2 S *^5 U . co ^^j 03 MH ^ G cd 3 "* M-l CO t> CJ 03 tUD S 3 J5-2 c>-^2 cd 4-> c ^Ju/i tatio ar-e mtation! o ever-u one it moaei/ea on tome /or-m o/ wman. iftitea a/moif entwe/u /or- fowvate ff / / < Among other faces used principally in advertisements, circular matter, advertising pamphlets, side headings in books, titles, etc., are the following, shown in 10-point alphabets : TYPOGRAPHY 275 CHELTENHAM ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ &$q abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz !? 1234567890 CASLON ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz !? 1234567890 DEVINNE ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ &$ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz !? 1234567890 BOOKMAN ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ &$ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz !? 1234567890 STRATHMORE ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ $ abcdef ghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz !? 1 234567890&, Electrotypes. A book may be printed from the type itself or from electrotype plates made from the type. The latter save money if there are many copies to be issued and also if it is not desired to print a large number at any one time, to be stored in bound form or in sheets. The copper surface of the electro- type wears better than type metal, the num- ber of possible impressions being from one to six hundred thousand, according to the care 276 ENGINEERING LITERATURE with which the plates and the work are han- dled. Presswork is the general name for that part of the printing process done by the presses. Newspapers are usually printed on 'cylinder' presses from rolls of paper, but books, with the exception perhaps of cheap fiction, are printed on separate sheets on 'platen' or 'flat- bed' presses. As sixteen pages (and sometimes thirty-two) are printed at a time in book work, it will be seen that the press-work is one of the smaller items of expense in most books, for compared with the cost of composition, it is not a considerable matter to run off a few hundred pages. A laborious, and sometimes the most expen- sive, part of the task is the 'make-ready.' If every part of a sheet of paper were to get precisely the same impression against the face of type, equally and uniformly inked, stand- ing exactly the same height on a perfectly level bed, the result would be complete uni- formity of appearance. But unfortunately there are generally minute variations in all these details. Almost infinitesimal variations in the height of type, more commonly found where different fonts are used in the same form, require attention. These deficiencies are made up by putting pieces of paper in front of the type (beneath the sheet to be printed), which process is called 'overlaying'; or behind PROOF-READING 277 the type, called 'underlaying'. It may seem strange that the thickness of a piece of paper put under part of a solid electrotype or cut can bring out the surface above it more dis- tinctly; but this is the case. Even a copper faced or solid leaden block weighing pounds and apparently inflexible, can be sprung enough by pieces of paper under parts of it to make the opposite surface give a stronger impression. This is not necessary for the rea- son alone that there may be minute variations in the thickness of the block. Even when all parts of the block are of precisely the same thickness, treatment may be desirable, by rea- son of the fact that it takes more pressure to bring out a dark surface than a light surface. A pressure of ten pounds may be enough for thin lines where ten times that would be re- quired for solid black. Every part of a cut, therefore, may need a different degree of pres- sure; hence overlaying and underlaying call for some considerable degree of skill and care. PROOF-READING When the manuscript has been set in type, the printer makes a "proof" which is sent to the author for his approval. The first proof shows the condition of the type in the "gal- ley,"* this is followed by the second, third, * The "galley" is a flat, oblong tray, long- and nar- row, flang-ed on one or both sides, used for holding the type in position in lines. 278 ENGINEERING LITEEATURE etc. proofs as the work progresses, showing the corrections made in the previous proofs; the make-up in pages (page-proofs) ; the final arrangement of the type in frames for casting into plates (foundry-proofs) ; the casting of the type into electroplates for use in printing (plate-proofs), and finally a "press-proof" showing the work on the press, made up in forms, and on the paper to be used in the book. Two sets of proofs are usually sent to the author one for corrections (Author's Proof), to be corrected and returned to the printer, and one to be held by himself for reference. The adding of new matter and the changing of arrangement of old in this proof, known as "Author's Alterations," adds quickly to the cost of making of a book and should be avoided as much as possible. Before submit- ting the manuscript to a publisher the author should be very sure that he has finished it and that it will not later require the addition of new matter or changes in phrasing, in ar- rangement, for the reasons already mentioned on page 121. If this is the ease and all the suggestions previously outlined have been followed, proof- reading will resolve itself merely into the cor- rection of typographical errors. Rules for this work are simple; the proper signs should be learned thoroughly and it should only be necessary to admonish care and accuracy in PROOFREADING 279 their application. Proofreading demands care- ful attention. It is extremely annoying, both to author and publisher, to be compelled to insert a page or two of "Errata" into a com- pleted work. This can be obviated by the exercise of proper care in the comparison of proofs and manuscript assuming the latter to be letter perfect and the distinct notation of disagreements on the proofs for the guid- ance of the printer. These corrections should be made with black ink or a soft, black pencil. The " proof" is made by laying a damp sheet of proof paper over the type as it stands on the "stone"* and getting the impression by pounding it with a mallet on a wooden block, or by rolling a felt-covered cylinder over the paper. This damp paper seldom takes a sharp and uniform impression of all the type, so that a proof must never be expected to show the printing as it will appear in the finished work. Often the proof will show letters, ap- parently defective, but in reality but poor im- pressions, and as it is sometimes difficult to tell which is the case, it is best to be on the safe side and mark all letters that appear de- fective. When a mark has been made in the proof and is then found incorrect, it should not be erased with a rubber, but should be cancelled and marked "stet." Proofs always have a blank margin on each side of the type * The slab or table, with a stone or metal top, per- fectly smooth and level, on which forms are made up. 280 ENGINEEEING LITEKATUKE and every correction in the text should have a corresponding mark in this margin, on the side nearer the error and as nearly opposite it as possible. Where there are so many er- rors about one spot that confusion is likely to arise if corrected in the ordinary way, strike out the passage and re-write it as it is wanted in print, in the margin. MARKS USED IN CORRECTING PROOFS The most frequent errors are : 1. Improper Spacing of Lines and Words, which includes also errors of indenta- tion. Errors in spacing of words and lines can readily be detected but the errors of spac- ing punctuation need more careful attention. For instance, observation will show that the comma and the period are set close to the words they follow, while the semi-colon and the colon are set off the distance of a thin space. Sometimes spacing between words in different lines is not uniform, on account of an effort on the part of the compositor to avoid dividing a word at the end of a line. Unless this spacing is decidedly too small or too large for good appearance, it should not be altered. 2. Transpositions and Misplaced Matter are frequently caused by the rapid operation of the type-setting machine and should be easily de- tected. In hand-set type there are often in- PROOF-BEADING 281 verted letters and wrong fonts.* These are amongst the most difficult errors to detect. The author should study the appearance of similar letters and of inverted letters. For example, in the following cases, the first character is correct; the second is the same character in- verted : b-q n u ' < d p oo , ' p d u n : : q b s s . ' 1 t x x 3. Incorrect Spelling", meaning errors in spelling made by the compositor. A word spelled correctly in the copy might very pos- sibly be spelled incorrectly in the proof. Such errors require close attention and a knowledge of correct spelling by the proof-reader. In this connection it should be noted that when fi and ffi come together, the logotypes fi and ffi should be used. 4. Omissions frequently occur by matter be- ing overlooked by the compositor. 5. Too Much Matter, consisting principally in duplication of whole lines by compositor. It is customary in city printing offices at least, for a proof to be read by the printer before it is sent to the author, for the pur- * Meaning- kind, or style of face, of type. A "font" is a complete assortment of any one kind or type, 11 which the quantity of each character bears a certain proportion to the rest. 282 ENGINEEEING LITERATURE pose of correcting compositor's errors. If there are many of these, they are corrected before the first Author's Proof is made; if there are very few, the corrected proof itself is sent to the author for his further correc- tions and approval. In connection with the work of the com- positor, Robert Luce says in his "Writing for the Press": "Count the letters, punctuation marks and spaces on the page of an ordinary novel, and you may be surprised to find that there are between one and two thousand pieces of metal in its composition. It would indeed be strange if every one of these should be accurately placed on the first attempt. The wonder is not that many changes may be required, but that good compositors can fur- nish such clean proofs. The chance for error is indeed so great that accuracy should never be assumed, and there should be no complaint that error is present. Eternal vigilance is the only safe rule for anyone who has to do with printers, not because they are more fal- lible than anybody else, but because the chance for them to do the wrong thing is so great. Give them credit for the surprisingly large percentage of accuracy." "Where words or lines are cancelled or altered, ter of the same length as the original, thus it is often possible to make the substitute mat- PROOF READING 283 obviating some of the troubles incident to a re-make-up of a paragraph or page. In the printing office proof is read by two persons, one following the proof (the proof- reader), while the other reads from the origi- nal manuscript (the copy-holder). An author can generally read proofs by himself, as know- ing his subject thoroughly, he will not need to compare every item of spelling, punctuation, spacing, etc., as the printer's proof-reader does. All formulas and mathematical expressions, tables, etc., should, however, be carefully com- pared. The printer sends the author his original copy with the first proof, for comparison ; with the second, or revised, proof is sent the previously corrected proof, and in this all cor- rections should be carefully checked. This need seldom be read entirely, as it has already been read and all that should be necessary is to see that the corrections marked have been made. But in the case of page-proofs it is impor- tant that they should be examined for errors made after all corrections have been checked. It should be seen that no lines have been trans- posed or omitted, especially at the bottom and top of the pages; that the running heads are correct ; that tables are properly arranged and divided; that page numbers are in proper se- 284 ENGINEEEING LITERATURE quence and at the right corners, and that the end letters of lines and particularly that punc- tuation marks have not been dropped out in the make-up of the page. When there is any uncertainty on the part of the printer's proof-reader in regard to spell- ing, construction, or arrangement, he puts a question mark ( ?) or writes "Qy." (Query) in the margin, together with his suggestions for improvement if he has any to offer. The author should in all cases note these questions and decide the point, by writing his decision and striking out the (?) or "Qy." of the proof- reader. Make no more comments than are ab- solutely necessary ; do not argue with the print- er; his duty is to set up your manuscript as you want it; merely reply "Yes" or "No" or otherwise, as briefly as possible to all questions. A writer when he makes his final arrange- ments with his publisher should stipulate the fact if he wants "galley proof," as it is the custom with some publishers and printers to assume that an author 's manuscript is complete and correct and not to send him any proofs until the manuscript is made up into pages. On returning a proof to the printer mark it '0. K. ' or 'O. K. as corrected,' with your name or initials, that he may know that the proof has been read and passed by the right man. PROOF-READING 285 Marks used to correct a proof sheet cS Delete : take out, or expunge. \V. Restore or retain words which have been crossed out; stet usually being written in the margin. O Turn a reversed letter Ct., Transpose /& A space, or more space, between words, letters or lines. ^O Less space, or no space, between words or letteft. "J Carry a word or line farther to the left, or to the right. {7 Indent. T Elevate a letter, word, or character that is sunk below the proper level. U* Sink or depress a letter, word or character raised above the proper level. L Shows that a portion of a paragraph projects laterally be- yond the rest. ^ Directs attention to a quadrat or space which improperly appears. X Directs attention to broken or imperfect type j=- Straighten (a crooked line or lines) ftC" Print as a diphthong. ~a* Make a new paragraph. Put in italics. Change from italics to roman. Put. in SMALL CAPITALS. Put in CAPITALS. '/ Wrong font used when a character is of a wrong size or style I.C. Lower case; that is, put in small or common letters Q/ Query; is this right? tf. Words are omitted, or are wanting, sec copy This and the two following pages have been repro- duced, by permission, from pamphlet entitled "Style Brief," by C. Bowyer Vaux, and published by The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, Philadelphia. 286 ENGINEERING LITERATURE is set by the compositor is placed on a rectangular^ 1 """ brass trayfa\calledJ0aHei/. When the take is completely set by the / compositor, the galley of type is handed to the proof-press operator / and a galley proof is taken. The galley " proof, together^with^ts Sj */ take of manuscript, is sent to the proof room. The compositor ' begins^Mon another take and the galley of type is filed away on the 4E* galley rack. / The first galley proof, known as the (ffice) PROOF, is read & I twice. The proofreader follows on the galley as the copy is read aloud by his helper, known as the^copvj/iokfer. Words omitted in the type and most of the ordinary 'Typographical Jurors are c.f <,ffJ thus detected. The proof is rea^d again by the reader for sense, ' ' construction and style, as it is impossible at one reading to detect / alLof this class. ^H / ^// >QThe manuscript is held in the proofroom and the office proof is sent back to the composing room. With thisjrApof in hand, "fc/ /a compositor gets the galley of type and picks out the pieces of [finetal that are placed wrong, correctable type by the proof, letter by letter. After a type correction has been made (that is, the taking out of metal pieces from a line and replacing them by /other type pieces), the line in every case must be justified to its exact standard length by chan ging the^between the words. ^ / ^hen the galley of type haTbeen corrected, a second proof is ' taken and sent to the proof room together with the office proof. galley of type is again filed away. A A proofreader carefully compares the clean proof with the first or foul proof to make cer- tain that the compositor has made all the corrections aoquratplyr] &&T / J /' flf any errors are Detected, they are marked in ink on the new b.l.l ' / proof. This proof, accompanied by the manuscript, is then sent from the printer to the author and is known as the author's . j galley proof.^ If yWuscripts could be written^in the style of Q ' 1 the publication, and compositors could set type exactly according I / to copy and free from errors, then all the expensive labor of proof /reading and type correcting would be eliminated. TYPOTHET^. / PEOOF-READING 287 A corrected proof TYPE as it is set by the compositor is placed on a rectangular brass tray called a galley. When the take is completely set by the compositor, the galley of type is handed to the proof press-operator and a galley proof is taken. The galley proof, together with its take of manuscript, is sent to the proof room. The compositor begins work on another take and the galley of type is filed away on the galley rack. The first galley proof, known as the OFFICE PROOF, is read twice. The proofreader follows on the galley as the copy is read aloud by his helper, known as the copy holder. Words omitted in the type and most of the ordinary typographical errors are thus detected. The proof is read again by the reader for sense, construction and style, as it is impossible at one reading to detect all errors of this class. The manuscript is held in the p/oof room and the office proof is sent back to the composing room. With this proof in hand, a compositor gets the galley of type and picks out the pieces of metal that are placed wrong, corrects the type by the proof, letter by letter. After a type correction has been made (that is, the taking out of metal pieces from a line and replacing them by other type pieces), the line in every case must be justified to its exact standard length by changing the spaces between the words. When the galley of type has been corrected, a second proof is taken and sent to the proof room together with the office proof. The galley of type is again filed away. A proofreader carefully compares the clean proof with the first or foul proof to make cer- tain that the compositor has made all the corrections accurately, If any errors are detected, they, are marked in ink on the new proof. This proof, accompanied by the manuscript, is then sent from the printer to the author and is known as the author's galley proof. If manuscripts could be written eorrectly in the style of the publication, and compositors could set type exactly according to copy and free from errors, then all the expensive labor of proof- reading and type correcting would be eliminated. TYPOTHEIVE. 288 ENGIN"EEKING LITERATUEE Making up the Book. The generally recog- nized arrangement of the parts of the book is as follows: Half-title, or 'Bastard Title' (common in fiction but now seldom used in technical books), on right-hand page, or first page of book. The reverse page should be blank. Frontispiece, on the left-hand page, facing title. When this is used, the preceding page (or page 1) is blank. Full Title, on the right-hand page, or page 3. Copyright, on left-hand page (page 4), back- ing the title. Dedication, when used, on right-hand page (page 5) facing copyright notice. The re- verse page (page 6) is left blank. Preface follows on right-hand page. If there is no dedication, this follows the copyright notice. There is no specified length for the preface but it is usually made up to occupy an even number of pages, so that it will close on the left- hand page. Contents follow on right-hand page, which is followed by List of Illustrations or Text, right-hand page ; then the Appendix when necessary, and Index. Errata sheet, when inserted, should face first page of text or follow table of contents. RULES FOR MAKE-UP OF PERIODICALS Every publishing house has its own set of "Rules" covering its policy in regard to typography, orthography, punctuation, abbre- MAKE-UP. OF PEEIODICALS 289 viation, etc. As mentioned on page 30, these rules are sometimes made up in printed form for the benefit of contributors, whose observ- ance of the specifications adds to -the possibility of acceptance of their manuscripts, and their early publication. In many cases also it is of financial benefit to the contributors, on account of the saving of time of the publisher's editors. A typical set of such "Rules" is given below: RULES FOR THE MAKE-UP OF ENGINEERING NEWS. MARCH, 1906. [The "Century Dictionary" and De Vinne's "Prac- tice of Typography" are to be followed in matters not here specified.] All reading matter is to be set in minion lead or nonpareil lead or solid. In general, original contributions, staff articles and editorials are set in minion; all matter reprinted from other sources, Letters to the Editor, news notes, and tabular matter in all articles, are set in nonpa- reil. QUOTATIONS. Quotes are to be used for names of ships, railway cars and the like, and newspapers, except Engineer- ing News, thus: The racing-yacht "Columbia"; the private car "Albemarle"; the Toledo "Bee" of March 18, 1905. Quotes are to be used in other cases when so marked in copy. When a word, phrase or sentence is reproduced from another place, it will be quoted. Longer quotations will be distinguished by change of type arrangement, as follows: When occurring in nonpareil matter all quotations, and in minion matter all quotations less than 3 ins. high will be set nonpareil solid. In minion matter, 290 ENGINEEKING LITERATURE quotations exceeding 3 ins. in height will be set non- pareil lead. In nonpareil solid matter, quotations will have quotes at beginning and end of the quota- tion. When a quotation begins in the middle of a sentence do not indent first line. In these and all other cases of change of type with- in an article (except when set off by center dashes) the two kinds of matter will be separated by two leads above and below. NOTES. Footnotes, or explanatory notes, preceding or ac- companying articles or engravings, to be all nonpa- reil solid. Notes appended to Letters will be set in minion lead, will be enclosed in brackets, and will always terminate thus: Ed.] Notes by the Editor appended to, or occurring in, minion matter printed under a signature, will be set minion lead, will be enclosed in brackets, and will be followed by Ed.], as for Letter notes. Notes and Queries are set wholly in nonpareil, using nonpareil solid for direct quotations from let- ters or otherwise. TITLES AND HEADINGS. TITLES OF ARTICLES AND LETTERS are to be in De Vinne type (8 point). Titles of articles are to be all caps, titles of letters c. & 1. c.* In articles printed under a signature, the title will be followed by the author's name and titles set in minion. A SHORT FORM OF STADIA RECORD By H. Franklin, Jr., Assoc. M. Am. Soc. C. E. Sub-Heads. Articles may be divided by sub-heads of four orders: 1. Center Heading, caps. 2. Side Heading, caps. 3. (Rarely) Side Heading, c. & 1. c. (In exceptional cases, also) 4. De Vinne c. & 1. c. 8-point may be used for center heads of superior order to the Roman caps. * This rule has since been changed in regard to style of type used, and in respect to giving greater prominence to subheads. MAKE-UP OF PERIODICALS 291 Except for the use of De Vinne, just noted, center and side heads will be of the same size type as the article itself. TITLES OF TABLES. These will always be in nonpareil caps; and in following style: TABLE II. RADII OF ACTION OF BATTLESHIPS. (On Basis of Most Favorable Speed, as Shown by Fig. 1.) TITLES OF CUTS. Titles of Cuts shall be in 7- point Gothic type, and shall be c. & 1. c. for one- column (or smaller) cuts and all caps for cuts over one column wide. They will ordinarily be preceded by fig. numbers, thus: Fig. 3. View of Machine Shop During Erection Showing Crane Girders. When a group of cuts has a common title in addi- tion to the individual titles, the latter will be set c. & 1. c., irrespective of width, while the common title will be all caps. DASHES, RULES AND PAGE HEADINGS. All articles will be followed by the heavy dash: except that ed. notes, letters and news notes will use the news note dash: But any group of ed. notes, news notes or letters will be preceded and followed by the heavy dash. Short rule dashes may be used for special purposes. The page of Engineering News measures 8% x 11% ins. over the type. Above the type a full-width rule shall be used. Heading, date, page and issue number will be placed directly over the rule, separated from it by a single lead. Each page of the main sheet of Engineering News will have the center heading Engineering News set in 10-point Old Style type, wide-spaced. The even- numbered pages of the Engineering Literature and Construction News supplements will have center headings of the style Engineering Literature and the odd-numbered pages will have the center heading Supplement to Engineering News 292 ENGINEERING LITERATURE in the type and arrangement noted. The outer cor- ner of each page will bear the page number in 10- point type, and the inner corner will bear the legend Vol. . No. . in case of the even-numbered pages, and Month , 19, in case of the odd-numbered pages. This matter will be set level with the page head- ing, and two ems from the edge of the rule, the latter being the width of the three-column type body. USE OF NUMERALS. IN GENERAL, A. USE NUMERALS FOR ALL NUMBERS EXCEEDING 12, and B. SPELL OUT ALL NUMERALS FROM ONE TO TWELVE. The exception to A is only where round numbers are used in a vague sense, as in "a thousand men taken at random," or "five hundred different reasons may be given," where they should be spelled out. The exceptions to B are as follows: USE NUMERALS FOR NUMBERS 1 TO 12 ONLY AS FOLLOWS: Bl. When the number is followed by a decimal or vulgar fraction. Never spell out l 1 /^, 2%, etc. B2. When the number is followed by a word hav- ing an authorized abbreviation, as "2 ft.," "6 oz.," "1 in." EXCEPTING when the statement is vague in its nature, as when the word "about" is used or implied, as in "some six feet beyond," when spell out. B3. In a series of two or more connected or con- trasted numerical statements, if some of the numbers must be numerals under rule A, use numerals for all as "2 men were killed and 16 or 18 injured." B4. In a series of connected numerical statements where precision is implied, use numerals only; as "2 foremen, 7 masons, 8 laborers." EXCEPTING that when vagueness is implied, and the numbers are all below twelve, spell out, as in "six or seven miles," or "two men were killed and six or eight injured." B5. In Construction News use numerals in such expressions as 7-story building, and 3-mile railway. RULES FOR THE SEPARATE DEPARTMENTS. TABLE OF CONTENTS Nonpareil leaded. MAKE-UP OF PERIODICALS 293 ENGINEERING NEWS NOTES. Nonpareil leaded, first words in caps as underlined. PERSONALS. Nonpareil leaded. One lead be- tween items. "Mr." or other titles to precede name. ENGINEERING SOCIETIES. To have a nonpa- reil cap, side head for name of Society. BOOK REVIEWS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS to be set in this style: POCKET BOOK OF MECHANICS AND ENGINEERING. Containing a Memorandum of Facts and Connection of Fact and Theory. By John W. Nystrom, C. E. Eighteenth Edi- tion, Revised and Greatly Enlarged. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Leather; 4x6 ins.; pp. 671; 114 tables, 17 plates, and 321 figures in the text. $3. Then proceed with review, which for the Literature Supplement will be set in minion lead; for Trade Publications in nonpareil leaded. The number of il- lustrations, etc., need only be given if they are con- secutively numbered in the volume. In Engineering Literature Supplement the headings will be as follows: CORRESPONDENCE. Books on Cement. That is all main divisions in De Vinne caps and all titles in D. V. c. & 1. c.* AUTHORIZED ABBREVIATIONS. (Do not use abbreviations of QUANTITY except when numerals are used. Write "1,000 ft." or "a thou- <& (for to or at) in tables only. b. 1. breech loading (in list of & in names of railways or ordnance.) firms only, as "Brown & B. M. (board measure) in the Smith," or "A. & B. Ry."; expression M ft. B. M.) or in tables when needed to bu. bushel bushels save space B. T. u. British thermal unit. &c. (not to 'be used; use etc. (When so in copy; otherwise prefer h. u.) .mp aere, Use only . e name., ceptionally. ct. (cts.) cents. a. m. before noon. c . to c. (center to center), pre- Aug. (followed by numerals.) ceded either by numerals or Ave. (after capitalized name of the word "distance." avenue.) C. centigrade (thermometer). bbl., bbls. preceded by symbol and num- B. HP. brake horsepower. erals. 294 ENGINEERING LITERATURE Chas. (followed by surname.) cm. centimeter. c. m. circular mils. Co. company (preceded by name in capitals.) Col. (followed by name.) cu. ins., cu. ft., cu. yd., etc. cu. m. (cubic meter), cu. cm.. cu. mm. (c. c. may be used when bacteria per cu. cm. are meant.) cwt. Do NOT use. d. pence. Dec. (followed by numerals.) diam. (in some cases: use op- tional; follow copy.) deg. not to be used. Use o symbol, o ' " degrees, minutes and seconds (for angles.) Dr. Doctor, followed by name. F. (Fahrenheit) for degrees. 3 C. (Centigrade) of tempera- ture. 3 R. (Reaumur.) i. g. for example (if in copy.) B. HP. electrical horsepower. Eff. HP. effective horse-power. B. M. F. electro-motive force. Bng. News, preceding refer- ences to issues or pages, etc. (not &c.) 5t seq., and following (if so in copy). Feb. (followed by numerals.) Fig. (followed by a numeral.) fr. franc, francs, ft. foot, feet.* pral.; gals, gallon (s). Sen. (followed by name.) Beo. (followed by surname.) b. hour, in combination with "min." or "sec." as "2 h. 20 min.," but spell out for "22 hours," etc. a.. M. S. (preceding names of British ships.) Hon. (followed by name.) HP. horse-power; also I. HP. and E. HP. HP.-hr. horsepower-hour, d. p. high pressure (followed by the word cylinder.) l. u. heat units (also B. T. U. when so in copy, as above.) [-beam (use the regular font cap I. Do NOT write I-bar or eye-beam. . e. (if in copy; use Roman 1. c.) !. HP. indicated HP. n. (ins.) inch, inches.* fas. (followed by surname.) fan. (followed by numerals.) alo. (kilos.) kilometer. eg. kilogram. 1954 ni e M P ,, u REC'D LD 29 J956 REC'D LD 1957 LD 21-100m-l,'54(1887sl6)476 i / ^O~7 I DUO / THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY