WILS
CLS
339,45
W134tr
WAIT
THE TRUE
STRUCTURAL
BASIS OF
PUNCTOGRAPHIC
SYSTEMS OF
LITERATURE
AND MUSIC
*****
TRA
::..:

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:
Twin Cities Campus
THE UNIVER
OF
REGENTS
:
THE TRUE STRUCTURAL BASIS
OF
PUNCTOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS
OF
LITERATURE AND MUSIC.
BRADSTREET PRESS,
279, 281, 283 BROADWAY.
BY WILLIAM B WAIT.
THE TRUE STRUCTURAL BASIS
OF
PUNCTOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS
OF
LITERATURE AND MUSIC.
BY WILLIAM B. WAIT.
In compliance with current
copyright law, the University
of Minnesota Bindery
produced this facsimile on
permanent-durable paper to
replace the irreparably
deteriorated original volume
owned by the University of
Minnesota Library. 2012
339,45
W/34 tr
THE TRUE STRUCTURAL BASIS
OF
PUNCTOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS OF LITERATURE
AND MUSIC.
A part of my report for the year ending September 30, 1891,
consisted of an article called "A Review of the Origin and De-
velopment of Embossed Literature and Music for the Use of the
Blind, with Special Reference to the Educational Interests of the
Blind in the United States."
The publication of this sketch called out two conjoint criticisms,
into both of which has been woven, ad captandum, much erroneous
and misleading matter in regard to the true basis and relative
merits of punctographic literary systems and of systems of musical
notation.
Having been widely circulated, it will not be inappropriate to
point out the misstatements and specious arguments which form the
substance of both of these criticisms.
In the discussion details will be avoided as much as possible.
And first, of the matter of space. It is not claimed that the
vertical style is more economical than the horizontal :
Indeed, the advantage is conceded to be with the
latter.
But in making out as good a case as possible for the Braille,
what is called a uniform scale has been assumed, viz.: "Having
the points which compose the characters of the same size in both
systems, the space which separates these points the same, and the
spaces between letters, between words and between lines the same
in both."
The diagrams 1 and 2 represent a "New York" and a "Braille "
guide, with the words "Gold is heavy," as they would appear
when written in each guide. The word spaces are shown at the
braces, and the relative areas, expressed by the number of points
included in the word spaces, are clearly indicated.
1328436
4
The New York guide, as shown in the cut, does not give the
minimum practicable scale, but it is used here because it is the one
generally known.
G
111111111111111
Length.
Depth
(64)
G
1
I
Length.
Depth
O 1 d
O
No. I. Braille.

++
Total ..
1 d
Actual area needed for letters, letter spaces and word spaces ex-
pressed in number of points:
No. 2. New York.
Total ..
i s
Excess of Braille, 66+ per cent.
i s
he a
a
"
he a
1
123
V
€
J
O
74
41 points.
(C
3
V
y
(6
37 points.
(6
2
y

((
1
5
In the following sentence, "the day is past," the words are shown
in the guide:
EN: I
the
Length
Depth
No. 3. Braille.

Length.
Depth
da y
Total ..
No. 4.
New York.
i s
Total ..
Excess of Braille, 78+ per cent.
1
S
P
■I I.198PTAPI..... ......
the d a y
p a
a st
ра
44 points.
((
3
132
st
((

37 points.
(6
2
74
The area of Braille word space is 3x4=12 points.
The area of New York word space is 2x2= 4
((
(C
Excess of Braille, 8 points, or 200 per cent., whereas they were
assumed to be equal. The value of the error, as carried into Mr.
J. W. Smith's calculations, based upon "copy" containing 50,038
letters, may be approximately fixed. He does not give the num-
ber of words in this "copy," but it can be determined with suffi-
cient accuracy for our purpose.
6
An examination of the vocabulary used in "Little Women
shows an average of five letters to a word, which for 50,038 letters
gives 10,007 words and a number of word spaces approximately the
same, or 10,007 word spaces. Error on each
8 points.
80,056 points.
This does not include the space between lines, but only the space
included within the vertical limits of letters. If the line space be
included with the area of the word space the result is as follows:
Area of word and line space in Braille, 4x4=16 points.
Area of word and line space in New York, 2x3= 6
((
Difference..
Number of word spaces
Error in each..
1
ΙΣ
Total...
4
IZ
ΙΟ
10,007
2
((
10 points.
100,070
In the Criticism it is said "that his statement that the Braille
' requires' a word space of 'not less than four points in writing' is
disproved by the Boston tablets, in which the word space is less
than three points."
ΙΣ
In a New York guide 8½ inches (100) long, 100 points are made;
that is, I point to each inch. If the reader will apply a rule
with scale to cut No. I, on page 4, which is a fac simile of a
Boston tablet recently procured, it will be seen that the cells are
approximately and the vertical bars.
((
"}
12
In practice the points in the cell are a trifle closer than the
nearest points of two adjacent cells, but the average distance is 1.
Thus in a Boston guide, the openings covering 7 inches in length or
84, give 27 cells with 54 points and 26 bars with 26 points,
making 80 points in inches, which is a fraction coarser than a
scale. Although the difference is slight, it aids in showing the
fallacy of the "uniform scale" theory. For the present purpose
the scale will be considered as . Hence it appears that each
ΙΣ
inch represents I point.
12
ΙΣ
1
12
5
1
Applying a scale to cut No. I the word space at the first brace
has that at the second has 1. Can there be any doubt that a
vertical code requires a word space of not less than 4 points length-
wise?
12
The theory on which it is deemed proper to allege that the word
space "is less than 3 points" is interesting as exhibiting that fer-
7
1
tility of disingenuous resources with which we have become
familiar.
For each letter in a word there is a letter space separating it
from the adjacent letter. Now if it be assumed that the terminal
letter of a word also has its letter space of I point, and that it is
not merged into or regarded as being word space, then the word
space can be construed as having 3 points instead of 4. And in-
asmuch as the space under the bar between the adjacent points of
two letters is a trifle greater than the distance between the points
in the cell, it may be said that the word space is less than 3
points.
It is well known that the New York word space is reckoned as 2
points, and this was assumed under the fallacious "uniform scale"
as being also the Braille word space.
If, however, the terminal letter of each word is to be accorded a
letter space, then the terminal letters in the New York code should
be treated in like manner. Hence, on this basis, the New York
word space should be reckoned as I point instead of 2. The rela-
tions of the word space would then be, I point in New York to 3 in
Braille, instead of 2 to 4.
Starting with this fallacy of a terminal letter space, we end with
this absurdity, viz., that the New York letter space is I point, and
the word space I point.
There can be but one correct view of the matter, which is, that the
whole space between words is word space, and hence the word space
in a vertical code cannot be less than four points in length.
Granting for the moment that the line space is the same vertically
in both systems, it will be seen by the cuts that it is not the same
horizontally, but that at every word space the corresponding line
space differs. That is, the line space must be as much greater in
length in Braille as the word spaces are greater.
This specious assumption of a "uniform scale" disregards the
element of horizontal difference in word space, and in the corre-
sponding part of line space, and assumes that the only difference is
in the vertical dimensions of the letters.
In point of fact, however, the line space vertically may be less in
the New York System than in Braille, for the upper and lower parts
of different letters should not be much closer together than differ-
ent parts of one and the same letter. The greater the vertical
length of the letters the greater must be the line space vertically,
when only one side of the paper is used. It is this fact which ren-
ders “interlining" so essential in a vertical code. It is equally
practicable for the New York System; but the small gain which it
might secure would hardly compensate for the inability to varnish
the manuscript, which cannot be done when the paper is embossed
-
8
on both sides, and which is of great value in preserving embossed
writings.
A resort to this faulty assumption, and to the defective methods
based thereon, was doubtless due in the first instance to misappre-
hension; for otherwise it would indicate not merely consciousness
of a weak case, but a willingness to adopt factitious methods in the
expectation that under cover of plausibility and high sanction they
would be accepted without question.
The fallacy of a uniform scale, which consists in assuming an
equality where no such equality exists, was first adopted by Dr. T.
R. Armitage and the Executive Council of the British and Foreign
Association, and although it was pointed out some twenty years.
ago, it was adopted by Mr. Smith in 1878 as the foundation of his
argument made at that time. That the same faulty argument
should have been restated in 1891 is, however, not surprising, for
it is a strong prop in a weak case. But the error may be shown
in another way.
Having found the number of points in length required in writing
copy" equal to 50,038 letters, including the word spaces, Mr.
Smith divides the whole number by 100, the number of points in a
line, to find the number of lines. As we have seen, the 50,038 let-
ters give about 10,007 word spaces.
""
Number of word spaces.
Length of New York word space...
Total length..
Number of word spaces
Length of Braille word space.
·
Total...
Assumed length of word space.
·
10,007
2 points
20,014
((
10,007
4 points
((
40,028
20,014
Discrepancy
20,014 points
20,014÷100-200 lines and over.
200 lines, 100 points long, and 4 points deep-80,000 points.
((
It will be understood that the number of word spaces in 50,038
letters will depend upon the number of words into which they are
formed. Thus the number would be much greater in the Psalms
than in Macauley's Essays. These are not the only errors involved
in the fallacious "uniform scale," but further illustration is not re-
quired.
Another artifice which has been resorted to is the use of a larger
9
number of contractions in writing out the chosen "copy" in Braille
or Modified Braille than were allowed in connection with the New
York code. In arriving at the results presented in his Columbus
paper Mr. Smith used some 49 contractions in writing out the
""
copy of 50,038 letters in Braille and only 10 in writing it out
in the New York System.
46
The manifest unfairness of such a procedure and the delusive
and worthless character of the results are both apparent. The
extent of the undue advantage gained in this way is shown by the
following lists:
and
but
can
ch
.com
con
dis
down
ed
en
Contractions accorded to
er
ever
every
for
from
ful
gh
have
his
in
Braille.
ing
less
ment
ness
mot
of
ong
Ou
·
OW
right
self
sh
shall
sion
st
th
that
the
this
tion
to
under
very
wh
which
will
was
with
you
Contractions accorded
to New York.
and
ch
ing
of
Ou
sh
th
that
the
wh
An attempt has been made to justify this course upon the
hypothesis that each system should be used with what Mr. Smith
calls "its own contractions," or "authorized" contractions.
Any short-hand devices for reducing the space required by the
Braille code which anybody had suggested were "authorized" and
became "its own." A simple statement of the case suffices to show
the specious character of this contention and the worthlessness of
any comparison made on such a basis.
In order to prevent further recourse to this style of argument, I
have prepared with much care a list of more than 500 contrac-
tions-miscellaneous, musical and mathematical-derived from
various practical and authentic sources, and which, in common
with the first ten, as above noted, are authorized as a part of the
New York System.
For the reasons adduced it appears that the Braille does not
possess the degree of excellence claimed for it. Equality with the
New York System has never been claimed, much less superiority,
even with the help of adventitious aids.
The other point on which stress has been laid is that of labor of
+
1
IO
writing. Here the claim is not made for the Braille, but for the
"Modified" Braille, and the basis on which the alleged superiority
rests will now be considered.
In the effort to substantiate this claim recourse was also had to
the use of contractions in the manner before explained. It has
been conceded that without contractions the New York System
required 20 per cent. less time in writing a given amount of
"copy" than the Braille; and, further, that when each was allowed
"its own" contractions, 49 for Braille to 10 for New York (see
list), the New York System was still in the lead by 12 per cent.
In this latter case contractions were used 8,162 times for Braille,
and are said to represent 21,120 letters out of the total 50,038.
For the New York System contractions were used 4,026 times, and
represented 10,218 letters.
*
The higher efficiency of the New York contractions is worthy of
note. So great is it that if the list of 10 were increased by 10
others equally well chosen, they would about equal in effectiveness
the 49 included in the Braille list.
We ought not to overlook the fact that contractions should be
used very sparingly in all elementary works, which must always
constitute a large proportion of embossed literature, and that their
use should be consistent with euphony and correct orthography.
In the construction of the New York System regard for these con-
siderations restricted the number of contractions to 10, which
were to have the same value as the letters, and to appear in all
books. They occur so often that they are learned without diffi-
culty in connection with the alphabet, and facilitate reading from
the very start.
But the relative merit of any system can only be determined
primarily on a pure alphabetic basis, as seen in the illustrations,
and on which the views presented at Indianapolis in 1871 were
founded. This presents a determinate standard, while the introduc-
tion of a variable and optional factor such as contraction, leads, as
we have seen, to mistaken conclusions.
It now becomes clear why a larger list was employed on the
Braille side and a restricted list on the New York side. The result
of using the same list on both sides would have been disastrous.
Even against these great odds the New York System is admitted to
be preeminent.
The remaining means for reducing the labor of writing is secured
by arranging the letters according to the principle of recurrence.
While this is entirely legitimate, and, indeed, the only device which
is at once logical and essential in the formation of a punctographic
alphabet, still there is a limit to its application in the vertical rec-
tangle of points This limit is determined by the elements of
I I
unity and perspicuity in the structure of both letters and words.
These two qualities depend upon three conditions:
First.
That the position of the points, whether single or multi-
ple, shall be such that they can be located readily and with cer-
tainty.
Second. Suitable proximity of the points whereby they may
be readily construed as forming a single sign.
Third. That the spaces separating letters and words shall be of
minimum and uniform extent in each case respectively.
The signs formed in a vertical rectangle of six points may be
classed as unilateral or as bilateral. A sign which occupies both
sides of the cell is bilateral. A sign formed on one side only is
unilateral. Several are shown below:
3 of 1 point
3 of 2 points
I of 3 points:
M
Bilaterals, b. c. d[*:
Unilaterals, a
e. 1:
The vertical line is used to show the position of the points at the
top, middle or bottom of the rectangle.
It will be seen that there are 14 possible unilateral positions, 7
on each side of the cell, as follows:
1° │•
a
↑
:1
and that the 7 on one side are exactly like the 7 on the other side.
Standing as single signs, this slight difference of location is all that
distinguishes them.
Were it possible to use all of these unilateral signs, giving 6 of 1,
6 of 2, and 2 of 3 points each, it is clear that it would effect some
gain in labor of writing over any of the known forms of Braille.
No space would be saved, however, and the MSS. would be strag
gling and ambiguous, imposing far more trouble and labor in read-
ing than could be saved in the writing.
Braille utilizes only 4 of these unilateral positions, viz.:
a bk
1
The modified Braille, as presented at Columbus, used 4 uni-
laterals, and on the principle of recurrence assigned them to
e 1
t
This arrangement could not have been well considered, for, as
we are informed, it "was changed almost immediately afterward—
12
the changes being dictated by considerations of legibility in the
combinations of letters." By this change, one more unilateral was
introduced, the positions being a est: What has
been gained in legibility by the changes is not very clear.
The seeming brevity of these unilaterals is attractive, but their
effect upon the compactness and unity of the words into which they
enter is not favorable. This may be shown by a single example:
Braille
Length
Depth..
Length.
Depth.
New York
No. 5.
Mississippi
I
The
{":
Area..
The disjointed character of this structure is in strong contrast
with the unity and compactness of the New York System, as shown
by the following illustration:
No. 6.
Area....
Excess of Braille, 64+ per cent.
35 points.
(6
3
105
Mississippi
No. 7.
little
((
The broken effect of this lack of continuity in word structure is
seen in the following illustration. The waste of space resulting
from the use of the unilaterals is also apparent:
:.
32 points.
((
2
64
((
bird
:
13
The evident effect of the unilaterals is to disturb the uniformity
of the letter spacing, thus dismembering the words and destroying
that structural unity which must be regarded as an important fea-
ture of both words and letters.
But with an ingenuity born of a determination to magnify any
merit and extol every defect of the vertical codes, the Criticism
says, "The unvarying space between the letters" (i. e., in the New
York System) "deprives the reader of the aid of the suggestion af-
forded by the irregular spaces between the characters of a Braille
page.
That is to say, irregularity and disorder are more suggestive than
regularity and order. But more than this, there is here an admis-
sion that at least the bilateral signs, when they occur in unbroken
succession, are deficient in tangible power. The increased tangi-
bility is not due to irregular, but to the enlarged, space itself, and
hence if the letter spaces were made regularly larger the reader
would have the aid of the suggestion afforded.
The obvious inference is, that in a succession of bilaterals, sepa-
rated by the standard letter space, the tangibility is not as great as
could be wished.
""
In the following brief example (only one of many) there are no
less than seven "irregular" spacings.
•
P
I 2
No. 8.
3
123
00
res cott
4
S
5
6 7

1:30
pla a n
14
{
New York.
a
As for the labor of writing, it will also be seen by the following
comparison that the unilaterals are not more simple than the
corresponding signs of the New York alphabet, and hence these
five unilateral letters can give no appreciable gain over the same
letters in the New York System:
(D
+
S
1:
t
1 :. 3
No. of
points.
2
I
Total
2
I
Modified Braille.
No. of
points.
I
a
e • I
1 1:
1
S
1:
3 N
2
↓
t |:
9
Total 9
As these five letters afford no gain in the labor of writing, it
follows that any gain must be afforded by the remaining letters.
Seeing, however, that recourse to these five unilaterals of sim-
plest structure gives no gain over the corresponding letters in the
New York System, there is no reason to expect an advantage from
the other letters. This view is sustained by a comparison of the
alphabets when placed upon the same basis.
An examination of miscellaneous "copy" containing 30,828
letters showed that for practical purposes the recurrent power of
each letter may be represented by the numbers in the subjoined
table. Multiplying each of these numbers by the number of the
points in the corresponding letters of each alphabet respectively,
the aggregate on each side will represent the number of points re-
quired by each in a unit of alphabetic writing, which may be con-
sidered to be 520 letters, as distributed in the following table:
2
J
20
:
dub
15
PD080.4 80.- § = • 20 LS +
a
b
с
d
e
f
i
j
k
1
m
n
P
q
t
u
V
W
BXAN
у
NEW YORK.
~ 4
2
3
3
I
3+~++♡♡~~m+MNH
4
5
2
4
4
2
2
4
2
I
3
33
3
5
с со с
3
5
40
7
I2
20
60
12
IO
30
40
3
3
20
I2
40
40
IO
3
30
40
45
12
7
ΙΟ
3
IO
I
80
28
36.
60
60
36
40
150
80
12
12
бо
36
80
80
30
12
90
80
45
36
2I
30
15
30
5
Letters.
a
b
с
d
e
4 80cm —
f
h
i
j
k
1
Eco Ro
m
n
O
P
q
r
S
t
u
V
W
X
A N
y
MODIFIED BRAILLE.
Number of
points.
I
3
3
3
I
3
4
3
2
in t
5
4
3
3
3 2 3 I 2 2 ~
5
2
3
4
4
timi
5
3
5
Recurrence
number.
40
7
12
20
60
12
IO
30
40
3
3
20
12
40
40
ΙΟ
3
30
40
45
I2
7
TO
3
10
I
Total
points.
40
21
36
60
60
36
40
90
80
15
12
60
36
120
80
30
15
60
.80
90
36
28
40
15
30
5
520
I,244
520
1,215
Difference in favor of Modified Braille, 29 points, in 1,244 points.
Thus it appears that there is no considerable saving of labor in
pure alphabetic writing, and hence any material advantage can be
secured only by the use of contractions; and, as has been shown,
no valid claim can be made on this ground.
Punctuation marks as factors in the matter of space or of labor of
writing are of subordinate importance.
16
An examination of a page of the "Forum," opened at random,
gives the following:
Commas, 35; periods, 18; hyphens, 5; semi-colons, 4; quota-
tion marks, 2; parentheses, 2; dash, I. Total, 67.
A page has 40 lines, with about 60 letters to the line, giving.
2,400 letters to the page (counting all the lines as full), or nearly
97½ per cent. for letters and 2½ per cent. for marks.
Doubtless passages might be found, and possibly whole books, in
which the use of a particular mark would be far above the average,
and in this way selections might be made to favor one code of marks
or the other.
For example, the parenthesis is freely used in algebra, and very
often as double, triple, and four fold.
In this instance the advantage would be decidedly with the New
York mark. But whatever might be the advantage within the limits
of algebraic writing it would prove nothing as to the use of marks
in general literature.
It may be safely said that punctuation marks do not constitute
more than 3 per cent. of the whole body of literary "copy" in
general, and hence any advantage, either as to space or labor of
writing, gained within this small fraction of the whole "copy" will
at the most be trifling.
I have always contended, as I now do, that it is optional for the
writer of the New York Code to omit the punctuations almost
entirely, using blank spaces instead. The distinct and uniform.
spacing for letters and for words renders this feasible.
A glance at the Braille guide on page 4 will show that a
punctuation space could not be smaller, and therefore must be as
large or larger, than a word space, which is already of wasteful
dimensions. This is impracticable, and so the Criticism objects
to the use of spaces for punctuation.
At the same time they have brought about by the use of the
unilaterals four kinds of spaces. Thus there is a true letter space
(the bar) and a true word space (cell and two bars), which occur
where each letter occupies both sides of the cell; but when a
unilateral is used the unoccupied half of the cell is added to the
true letter space, forming an irregular letter space of two points.
When a unilateral occurs at the end of a word the unused space is
thrown into the word space, making it so much larger than normal,
and therefore irregular.
Surely, if two kinds of letter spaces and two kinds of word spaces
will not destroy the unity or impair the structure and clearness of
words and sentences, we may safely conclude that a space different
from, and which cannot be mistaken for either a letter or for a
word space, can be used in place of a punctuation mark, which the
reader will supply according to the construction of the language.
17
The inconsistency of the objection to punctuation by means of
free space instead of signs is further shown by the fact that those
who object supply the place of the bar in music by a free space.
Brief reference ought also to be made to the subject of capitals.
As is well known, capitals were not at first employed in embossed
literature.
Referring to the exclusion of capitals from the Boston Code, Dr.
S. G. Howe, its author, said: "I determined to use no capitals,
because, first, it seemed unnecessary and unphilosophical to use
fifty-two characters when twenty-six would suffice, merely to con-
form to a fashion of commencing sentences with a capital, a fashion
which may change to-morrow; second, because it wasted precious
space." (Dr. S. G. Howe, 41st Report Perkins Institution, 1872.)
This view prevailed at Boston until about 1879.
From the first, and even at the time when Dr. Howe wrote the
above, there had been little reason to expect that embossed books
would ever exceed a small number of volumes, including the Bible
and some selections from general literature. Instruction in litera-
ture and music was almost wholly oral, and there seemed little or
no prospect that tangible text-books and stylography would ever
assume the importance in our educational system which they have
since attained.
More recently, however, our views of the methods and ends of
education have taken a wider range; resources have increased, and
facilities have multiplied. We have reached a stage' in which the
use of text-books has become not only possible, but necessary, in
every grade.
Moreover, in order that our boys and girls may do their work as
pupils, or afterwards as teachers, independently, and know the
subjects as they are known to others, text-books must be printed in
their full form and not as a mere epitome, or as synopses which it
is the proper work of the pupil to make after studying the full
text. In this view, capitals serve not merely the caprice of a liter-
ary fashion, but occupy a position of equal importance with other
symbols, as signs for ideas and things.
A single example will suffice. In Peck's Manual of Algebra,
now in course of publication, some 23 letters are used in both large
or upper-case, and small or lower-case forms to represent quan-
tities or relations.
Here the use of large letters is essential, and while the necessity
is not always so imperative as in this case still if we would give to
any subject in embossed form the same value in the hands of the
blind which it has in the usual ink-print form we must reproduce
the subject in its entirety.
In the New York System the capitals are formed from the small
letters by a process of enlargement. They are of uniform size and
18
compact in structure, which is an essential characteristic of capital
letters.
The rule for their construction is simple. To each of the small
letters enough points are added to form a sign four points long.
If the last point of the small letter is in the upper row the
points are added in the lower row. If the small letter ends with
a point in the lower row, or with a point in each row, then the
points are added in the upper row.
Thus: Small a
large A..
small c
large C⚫
small d・・ large D
In the vertical plan it is evident that no capital can be made in a
single cell that will differ in size or area from the small letters.
Further, the vertical cell or rectangle of six points admits only
63 combinations in all, 52 of which would be required by a double
alphabet, leaving only II which would not supply the punctuation
marks. In this way the single cell signs would be exhausted, and
there could be no further extension without resort to compounding.
The compound sign would consist of two capitals, two small
letters, or of two punctuation marks, or of the union of one species.
with another, any of which would be cumbersome and practically
useless.
To avoid this difficulty a single form has been chosen which pre-
fixed to a letter shows that it is to be used as a capital.
Thus small a
capital A
small b. capital B..
The space required for these capitals is 18 points as against 10
points for the New York capitals.
Again, the capital prefix of the Modified Braille is the same as
the sign for the period.
Thus in the full and correct form F. R. S. would appear as
follows:
S.
F.
R.
FL.DL.ILDILEL
To obviate the diffuseness of this writing, which however awk-
ward has the merit of being correct, it is prescribed that "the word
space may be omitted; the period which follows the first letter be-
comes the prefix or capital sign, for the next."
But in no proper sense can this double significance exist, for if
the sign is a period, then there is no capital. If it is a capital pre-
fix, then there is no period. These are two distinct signs, and as
both appear in the original example both should appear in the em-
bossed equivalent.
This is a good illustration of the narrowness of the basis of con-
-
19
struction afforded by the vertical rectangle of 6 points. Still more
clearly will this be seen from a very important consideration con-
nected with printing.
It must be evident to the most casual observer that at best the
number of tangible symbols at our disposal is very meager. Com-
pared with the rich resources of ordinary typography, they are as
nothing. For writing, too, the number is less than for printing,
because in the former we may use points only, while in the latter
we may enlarge the store of symbols by the use of lines and of
combinations of lines and points. The number of these lineal
signs or combinations must necessarily be small, and every one of
them must be within the limit of easy tangible perception.
The power of types, by which both lines and points can be em-
bossed, is far greater than the power of the stylus, which impresses
points only.
Stylographic writing is of inestimable value, and every pupil
should acquire the knowledge of it. Still, it is mainly a personal
attainment, serving chiefly individual ends.
In orthography, grammar, technical correctness, speed and other
features, stylographic writings will reflect the capacities of their
authors, and such capacities differ widely in pupils of the same age
and of the same grade.
1
Printed books, however, serve not only a personal but a universal
use. While an average writer may in half an hour produce a page
8½ by 12 inches, and that with more or less imperfections, the
printing press in the same time will impress hundreds of perfect
pages, ready to the hand of any pupil in any school.
Moreover, while engaged in the act of writing out a given sub-
ject, especially from dictation, the pupil will learn little or nothing
of it. It is only when the writing has been finished that the study
of it can begin. If the matter were presented in printed form the
time spent in writing would be saved.
The average number of words spoken by good readers when
reading by sight is 160 per minute, or 800 words in five minutes.
Only the most advanced and expert pupils, using a full list of ab-
breviations, could hope to reduce this amount of matter to writing
in less than an hour. What, then, may be expected from the ordi-
nary writers found in every class of a large school? But this is
not all. In the time required to write a single page the pupil can
compass several pages by reading, and a teacher reading while the
class writes would give only five minutes out of sixty to this ma-
chine work, losing fifty-five minutes which might otherwise be
devoted to teaching.
Thus it appears that writing should never be substituted for the
printed book, either in literature or music, whenever the latter is
available.
20
:
Much has been said, in the effort to raise a false issue, about
"labor of writing." At the same time this laborious and wasteful
method has been pursued while hundreds of pages of literary and
musical matter have been left unused.
From the manifest importance of embossed printing it is clear
that the structure of any system of tangible signs should accommo-
date itself readily to a combination with such simple lineal signs
as will enrich our scanty store of symbols, and afford that contrast
in appearance which not only renders the thought perspicuous,
but which by condensing the expression reduces the bulk and cost
of books.
In algebra, as we have seen, large and small letters are required,
and it is also essential that literal and numeral quantities should
be represented by distinct signs, first, because clearness is thus
secured, and, second, to avoid the constant repetition of the
prefix for number, and for the sign for "number ended," both of
which must be used if numerals and literals are represented by the
same signs.
Such a combination of lineal numerals with point literals has
been readily made by utilizing the signs:
THI V > ^ <LD
-
I 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
So also the signs for +, ÷, x, ( ), etc., can be utilized.
A single simple example will illustrate this point:
Suppose we have 5x +
will be-
3y
2d. In written form this.
:::::.:
5 X +
As printed it will be-
>
:..:::::|· ·||* :
2
3 y -
d
V:.:+1.'.
5 x + 3 y
F
2 d
And here is brought out with striking force a peculiar advantage
in the structure of the New York System. It consists in the fact
that these line types will "justify" with the point types without
loss of space.
The vertical or Barbier-Braille rectangle offers no such ad-
vantage. Taking the same example we have-
5 x +
3 y
: T*•·E :I: •ET´´1.1. E 1
2 ? d
21
Inasmuch as the same sign stands for d and for 4, either a blank
space must be left at ? or a sign for "number ended" must be em-
ployed to stop the effect of the number sign which stands before
the 2; otherwise it would read 24, and not 2d.
If now we use lineal numerals, like those shown in combination
with the New York Point types, it will be seen that they will not
justify.
V :: + 1.:
5 x + 3 y
+
2d
Here the space above the lineals is wasted.
The point brought out holds good not only throughout the
whole series of mathematical works, but in Harmony, Physics,
Acoustics, Chemistry, and in short in every subject where similar
combinations are employed in ordinary typography for the expres-
sion of ideas or things.
No adequate provision has been made for reproducing mathe-
matical works in the Barbier-Braille mode.
In 1867 Mr. Henry Robyn, whose efforts should be gratefully
remembered, suggested some algebraic symbols, but the list
was incomplete, and no indications for their application were
given.
In 1889 the "Association Valentine Hauy" published a list, but
it was less complete than Mr. Robyn's list, and as it stands is prac-
tically useless.
The subject seems also to have passed unnoticed by the British
and Foreign Association, and has not been made a part of the
Modified Braille.
And yet mathematics presents a most inviting field to the blind,
one, indeed, in which blind men have attained great preëminence
and won high distinction.
Some other erroneous statements of the Criticism require brief
notice. Speaking of the New York Code, it says: "The apos-
trophe or hyphen is not used, and the absence of these marks,
besides fostering incorrect habits in writing, must sometimes occa-
sion ambiguity."
The fact is that both of these marks were in the Code as it
appeared in the Report of 1881-2, having been first published in
1872. Whether these signs are always used in practice or not does
not alter the fact that they appeared as part of the system.
Again, it is said of Dr. Russ that "he introduced the idea of
embossing on both sides of the paper." This, in embossed printing,
is known as "interlining."
Embossing both sides of the same sheet was first done as early
as 1837, by Mr. James Gall, of Edinburgh, to whom the revival of
22
the art of printing for the blind is due, and who published the first
embossed book for the blind in English in 1827.
Of interlining it was said: "Formerly it was impossible to print
on both sides of the paper. Now, however, by means of the fretted
types, the paper may be printed on both sides." (See "Account of
Recent Discoveries for Facilitating the Education of the Blind,"
published by James Gall, Edinburgh, 1837.)
Of contractions in the New York System the Criticism says:
"Its construction, admitting only 39 different characters within the
space of six points, restricts the use of contractions to very narrow
limits."
There are 48 combinations within the space of 6 points. Fur-
ther, the New York System is not restricted to signs of 6 points,
but includes:::: and
Again, the use of contractions is in nowise limited in the manner
stated, as the merest tyro in the subject must know.
Some advantage has been claimed for the vertical over the hori-
zontal style in "facility of correction," and this matter may be
briefly noticed.
In the first place, where movable types are used corrections can
be made as readily in one system as another.
If in the course of writing in the New York System an error is
detected at the time it is made it can be corrected if it is deemed
worth while; but is far easier and involves hardly any loss of time
to "fill up," that is, to make enough points to render the error
nugatory, and then go on. In a vertical cell this cannot be done,
for every sign made in a cell stands for something, and hence an
error cannot be obliterated in this way, as in the New York
System.
on.
To illustrate: Suppose a class to be writing in the New York
System. If a pupil makes a conscious error he "fills up" and goes
In the Braille System he must either let the error stand or
change it to some other more extraneous sign, or else remove the
paper from the tablet, and at considerable loss of time erase the
points and replace the paper. In the latter case either the class
must wait or else he must lose so much as the others have written
while the correction was being made, and this would be a greater
evil than the error itself.
But it may be said that while this may be true of personal manu-
scripts and those which serve a temporary use, it will not cover the
case of sheets of thin brass, embossed with a stylus for permanent
use as a stereotype plate, and which must not only be accurate, but
free from blemishes made in course of correction. It is urged
that in this case the advantage is with the vertical code for the
reason that all letters or signs occupy the same fixed space,
23
hence any wrong combination of points can be effaced and a cor-
rect combination substituted.
It will be observed that the only correction which is compre-
hended in this claim is that of an error in each sign or letter
singly.
The letters of the New York System are not all of the same
length or area, the small letters forming three classes, with three
letters in the first, nine in the second and fourteen in the third class.
The capitals are of uniform length, viz., four points. In practice
the writer observes the classification, which is a safeguard against
error. When mistakes occur between letters of the same class
or area, the correction is as easily made as in the vertical code,
for in the same area one combination can be made as well as
another.
Passing from the structure of letters to that of words and sen-
tences, it will be seen that the correction of errors is as easy in one
system as in the other.
Suppose, for example, a brass sheet to have been written full in
each system, and it is found that some letters or words have been
omitted from each. The pages being full there is no room for the
insertion of either letters or words. In case of a superfluous letter
the whole or part of the word may be pressed out and the word
closed up, leaving a larger word space.
If there be a word too many it must either stand or else be
pressed out, leaving in the vertical style a blank space, whereas in
the New York style it may be either pressed out or obliterated by
the addition of other points. Or again, suppose that the Braille
writer in the course of a sentence omits the capital prefix, the space
being full, there is no place for its insertion. Should the writer of
algebra make a single parenthesis in place of a double one, omit
the sign for "radical," "radical ended," "exponent," "exponent
ended," or make any one of a hundred other mistakes, which is
not seen until the brass page has been finished, it would as a rule
be impossible to remedy the defect.
As to the printing of books, either for general or school use, by
means of brass sheets punched by hand, it is inadequate and not in
keeping with the spirit and facilities of our time. A hundred years
ago the excellent Hauy, with one great impulse of philanthropy and
wisdom, at a single bound attained the printing of embossed books
by means of movable types and a printing press. To-day we
have not only movable types, but the improved cylinder printing
press, the electrotype, the tinplate stereotype, the point-writing
tablet and the typewriting machine. With these at command the
use of hand-stamped brass plates involves loss of time, labor and
resources.
24
When thus broadly considered it appears that the claim of facility
of correction loses its force.
A few words may be said in regard to the bulk of books in New
York Point, as affected by the type used by the American Printing
House for the Blind. At the start, there was no plant of type in
hand for this style of work. It was of course desirable that the
size of the type bodies, and the distribution of the points thereon,
should conform to the nature and best possibilities of the system.
This, however, could not be attained without the construction of
an entire new font of type, an expensive matter, and the more so
when the best results at the foundry and in the school depend
upon knowledge to be gained by experience and observation.
Funds were scarce, and to avoid expense the type was cast on
the basis of the type (Dr. Howe's Roman letter) then in use at the
printing house, and the expense of new molds and of new spaces
was avoided.
But type alone will not suffice for a publishing house. All mat-
ter set up in type must be plated in some permanent form, and
preserved for future printing. Electrotyping, which furnishes the
usual means, was too expensive to be practiced in this case, and
recourse was had to the more inexpensive method of making a per-
manent impression of the type upon sheets of brass. The difficulty
of securing a distinct impression of each point in the brass required
a wider separation of the points, and consequently when the musi-
cal system was first adopted a larger letter was used, though still
on the same body.
Subsequently, the invention of tinplate stereotyping by Mr. B. B.
Huntoon did away with the brass plates, but still left a larger type
than was desirable, which, from motives of economy alone, had
been retained.
The dimensions of the Boston line letter are not germane to the
New York System, and hence do not furnish a proper standard for
that system.
In this view, it will be seen, no statement of space occupied in
books of literature or music as now printed in the Boston line and
the Braille, compared with the New York Systems, which ignores
these facts, can be either fair or conclusive as to the merits of the
latter. When a font of type which conforms to the requirements
and easy possibilities of the New York System shall have been pro-
duced, we shall be able to make a just comparison; and I hazard
nothing in saying that the superiority of the New York Point
System over the Roman forms will be as manifest in respect to
compactness as it now is in respect to tangibility and general utility.
The subject of Musical Notation is replete with minute details.
which need not be introduced here, as the Criticism on this side of
25
the subject can be disposed of under some general considerations.
And first of the matter of space.
The Criticism says: "With a view of determining the question of
space some comparisons were recently made. Burgmüller Studies,
Op. 100, are printed in both the Wait and the Braille systems. They
were both executed, of course, without thought of a comparison
being made. They are of easy grade and may be fairly considered
as representative of their class. The 1st, 8th, 16th and 25th
studies were chosen. Comparisons were made with such por-
tions of the studies as were printed in point in the Boston edition.
Differences of composition made this course necessary."
In the first clause we read, this whole set of studies, twenty-five
in all, has been printed without thought of a comparison. In the
third clause, we read that the comparison was made with "such.
portions" as were printed in the Boston edition. What portions?
Why, the Ist, 8th, 16th and 25th studies. But as the whole work
had already been printed, as stated in the first clause, why print
"portions" as the 1st, 8th, 16th and 25th? Evidently for the very
purpose of making a comparison, of which it is said there had been
no thought, and it is admitted that "differences of composition
made it necessary." And so it appears that these four studies were
printed in Braille with the thought of making a comparison.
As to 'the mode of the comparison, the first study will serve as a
sample for all. The Criticism assumes that the space may be deter-
mined by considering the study as printed in each system in a sin-
gle continuous line, and then comparing the number of linear
inches in each. Thus-
Linear inches in No. 1, Braille, 155/2
Linear inches in No. 1, New York, 248
These figures represent a line without depth, which is meaning-
less, the Braille line having a depth of three points, and the New
York line a depth of two points, as will be seen by reference to the
cuts, page 4. The Criticism conveniently ignores this fact-
as if area had only one dimension. The depth of the Braille line
being 50 per cent. greater than that of the New York line, 50 per
cent. must be added to the length of the Braille line, viz., 155.5+
77.7=233.2. The difference then is 15 inches, or 6+ per cent.
But again, it must be borne in mind that this specimen of New
York was printed in the excessively large type heretofore referred
to. The same piece, No. 1, when written in the ordinary New
York guide, gives a line of 204 inches two points deep, against a
Braille line of 233 + reduced to the same standard, an excess in
Braille of 29 inches, or 14 + per cent.
So of the statement in square inches. The Criticism gives study
No. 1, in Braille 75 and in New York 84 + sq. inches. Here
26
again advantage is taken of the great size of the type in which the
New York System appears.
In written form, which approximates a proper scale for type,
Study No. I requires 59 + sq. inches, against 75 sq. inches in
printed Braille, which is an excess of 27 + per cent.
The space occupied by these four studies, when written in full
form, in each system, according to the rules of each, is as follows,
ignoring fractions:
No. 1, sq. inches.
((
No. 2, ((
No. 3, (C
No. 4,
(6
""
""
Total...
New York.
59
63
- 72
123
.317
Braille.
62
67
88
12I
338
But let us view the case from another standpoint.
It
Czerny, Op. 261, has also been published in both systems.
has 80 pages in Braille and 64 pages in New York (large type), an
excess of 25 per cent. in Braille. These publications, according to
the standard of the Criticism, meet all the requirements, viz.:
"They were both executed without thought of a comparison
being made. They are of easy grade, and may be fairly repre-
sentative of their class." Were I to adopt the course pursued in
the Criticism this statement would be left with the reader as it
stands. But the statement would mislead the reader in exactly the
same way in which the Criticism misleads. The fact is that this
edition of Czerny, Op. 261, an elementary work, was published in
a dispersed style in Braille, with wide spaces between the lines, for
the evident purpose of making the reading more easy for beginners.
To leave the reader with the impression that this publication is a
fair representation of the Braille would be more than reprehensible;
and the same is equally true of the New York publication, for the
reason that it is printed in the large type to which I have referred,
and with portions of many pages left blank. And yet this is
precisely the style of statement and argument which marks the
Criticism from the first page to the last. It is somewhat curious
that the title of Burgmüller Study No. 1, the first one of those
selected for the so-called comparison, is “La Candeur." The sug-
gestiveness of this title seems, however, not to have been appreci-
ated, for candor is a quality of which the Criticism is utterly
devoid.
In respect to other matters, such as capacity for musical ex-
pression, labor of writing, and the like, an examination leads to
conclusions corresponding to those reached in regard to the matter
27.
1
}
of space.
One or two passages may be noticed. The Criticism.
says:
"As another instance of ambiguity we may consider the case of
the natural and the discontinuance sign. Made exactly alike, there
is absolutely nothing to distinguish them except the amount of
blank space following them, which involves a difficulty hard in
itself, and often made more complicated by attempts at 'justifying
in the printed music."
"Among other things calculated to embarrass the learner of the
Wait system it may be mentioned that in many cases the meaning
of a character is determined not merely by the points which
designate it, but also by the amount of space on one or both
sides. * * * * It is needless to say that in Braille no such
burden is demanded of the student.”
The Wait system has had recourse to signs, the arbitrariness of
which is enough to appall the student."
The hollowness of these passages as arguments against the New
York System will appear at a glance. The first two paragraphs
state facts in its favor, viz., the significance of both signs and spac-
ings, but the tone in which they are stated implies that the double
aid derived from sign and space is a hindrance. Nothing could
more clearly show a lack of apprehension than this.
Blank spaces when used in a regular manner and with fixed re-
lations become clearly significant. Indeed, they are tangible be-
cause they are felt to be smooth or unoccupied spaces of definite
size, some separating the parts of a whole, others separating wholes,
or serving to distinguish an auxiliary from a principal sign. As for
arbitrariness, all signs used in typography, whether tangible or let-
ter press, are arbitrary. Knowledge and use does not render them
less arbitrary, but only more common or conventional. A citation
from actual experience will give an effective and sufficient answer
to these, and also to all other derogatory, disparaging and mis-
leading statements of the Criticism.
Children of nine years of age, who only seven months ago
began studying the New York Musical Notation, including the
structure of the signs, their meaning and rules for their use, to-
gether with reading and writing, now learn and recite their lessons
by their own reading-from Köhler, Op. 190, and from the music
of Spindler, Gurlitt and others, written for this grade.
They readily distinguish the difference between a natural and a
discontinuance sign, which so puzzles the authors of the Criticism.
They know the spacings of one, two or three blanks and their effect.
They have learned the simple lesson that difference of place, rela-
tion or combination gives to the same sign a different meaning.
They know 2 in the place of units from 2 in the place of tens. In
this as in any other study there is no difficulty so "hard in itself”
28
1
that it cannot be easily resolved, under the guidance of a compe-
tent teacher (or without a teacher, as has often been done), so that
children may play at shuttlecock and battledoor with the "burden"
under which the authors of the Criticism are utterly crushed.
Take another case. A boy of twelve years, who entered this
school, September, 1891, began the study of the Musical Notation
in March, 1892. As he could not be placed in a regular class at this
time he received his instruction in this subject with his piano les-
sons, of which he has had two of 45 minutes each in each week.
At the end of six weeks, with twelve such lessons, he had learned
the signs for the notes, with their values, the accidentals, octaves,
intervals, time marks, fingering and many other signs, so as to read
intelligently the elementary exercises of Köhler, Op. 190, his les-
sons being assigned in that book and learned by his own reading.
These cases are not exceptional but typical, and illustrate the
common experience of teachers and pupils. They furnish con-
clusive proof that the system is simple, logical and lucid, and that
it furnishes a course over which the young learner, by easy and
rapid steps, may gain those most important advantages, self-help,
independence in study, and freedom from the crippling dependence
of key-board dictation.
"
With this demonstration of the availability of the New York
System during the first months and even weeks of study by
children, let us glance upward to see if there is a line of constant
ascent and where it reaches. The Criticism speaks of the New
York System as "a maze of meaninglessness," from which it would
appear that these beginners have just entered the edges of an im-
penetrable fog, through and out of which there is no discernible
path. If the Criticism is correct, if the New York System is a
maze of meaninglessness," instruction could not be carried on in
regular steps and grades, and there could be no order or advance-
ment. If, on the contrary, it is found that by and through this
system there is regular and orderly instruction and advancement,
then the Criticism is wrong.
There are at this time pupils of both sexes, studying along the
line of ascent, in every grade, up to and including the music pre-
scribed for the Associateship and Fellowship degrees of the Amer-
ican College of Musicians, in both Organ and Piano. This music
comprehends the works of the masters in polyphonic, sonata, and
free styles. One of these students, a young man not yet nineteen,
who after five years' instruction passed the severe examinations in
demonstrative and theoretic Organ, Harmony, Counterpoint, Form,
Acoustics, History and Terminology, and secured the Associate
degree of the College, is now studying the Fellowship grade. Dur-
ing the past seven months, besides reviewing the Associateship
music, he has written in the New York System, and learned and
29
}
recited therefrom, the following organ music of the Fellowship
grade:
Bach,
""
Sonata, D minor
Toccata, D minor
Sonata, D minor
30
Theme and Variations II
Guilmant,
Hesse,
Saint-Saëns, Elevation, E major
Rhapsodie No. I
Rheinberger, Pastoral Sonata, Op. 88 15
Thiele,
Chromatic Fantasie and
4
6
Fugue
((
<<
12 pages, staff notation.
6
((
(6
(6
((
((
""
((
(6
((
((
((
((
((
((
((
((
<<
((
(6
1
((
((
15
Every step of this work has been accomplished solely with the New
York System of Musical Notation, which is thus shown to be a
complete educational ladder, on every round of which pupils may
be found in the various stages of advancement.
Lest it may be thought that these pupils are specially set apart
for the study of music, I may say that such is not the case, their
literary studies being carried on with music. The young man re-
ferred to, in addition to his organ music, has studied regularly dur-
ing the past year Advanced Arithmetic, Physics, Music History,
Typewriting, Harmony, Composition, Piano and Piano-tuning.
I have cited these facts from the experience of the New York
School, not because they are peculiar to that school, but simply be-
cause they are matters of personal observation. Similar results
may be observed in other schools where the New York System has
been properly taught.
Among many errors of the Criticism the following may be
noted:
The table of signs of the New York System put forth as "com-
plete" omitted many signs which were in use and accessible in pub-
lished works. The statement that the discontinuance sign “has no
counterpart in Braille, being unnecessary," and which implies that
this sign is needless, does not present the case correctly.
The reader is aware that the effect of a sign in music is often
continuous, and that it must have an end as well as a beginning.
Having a sign to indicate the entrance of a given effect, as for
example a slur, it is necessary to indicate its end. For this purpose
a certain sign has been adopted in the New York System, which in
the specified conditions indicates "effect ended."
So, also, in the Braille system the end point must be indicated;
but instead of effecting this by means of a special discontinuance
sign, it is done by making the sign which indicated the effect
twice before the first note, and then once again before the last note
of the passage.
((
And so, while the Braille has no' special sign that is a counter-
30
1
part" of the one in question, it has a mode of doing the same
thing, although often in a manner more cumbersome and less de-
sirable.
The statement that the natural and discontinuance are
(6 made
exactly alike" does not state the case correctly, for the sign is not
properly made until it is put into its proper relations.
So of the implied objections that this same sign begins f, ff, fff,
P, PP, ppp, etc. One might as well object to the alphabet because
b begins book and boot and boom, in which case the distinguishing
sign or letter, t, k or m, in the words of the Criticism, "is so far
removed that a distinct forward movement must be made in order
to reach it before the exact nature of the character is ascertained."
Let us glance at the case of ppp, cited in the Criticism, as a
sample illustration:
•
New York ...
|
Braille
FEEL
(6
How much more simple is Braille than New York? How much
more of a distinct forward movement" must be made in the New
York than in the Braille ? The former covers 8 points in length, 5
appearing to the touch; the latter covers 12 points in length, with
15 appearing to the touch.
1
128
The insinuation that the New York Notation "cannot write the
introduction to the Sonate Pathetique" has no justification. It is
based on the pretended inability to express a note in the New
York Notation. A Brailleist should never stumble over a matter
of this kind. For, supposing there were no other way, he should
resort to his cardinal principle of making the same sign stand for
two different things of the same kind, and write a series of % notes,
which the reader, after due inspection, would construe not as eighths,
but as notes. But there is a better way-better because it is
unequivocal, so that the Sonate Pathetique can be and has been
correctly written in the New York Notation.
128
But while our friends have been throwing so much school dust
about this matter, it is a little amusing to find that in one of the
pieces cited by them, viz., Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodie No. 2,
there is in the first bar with the notes an essential sign for
which there is no equivalent sign in Braille, viz., a triple dot. Of
course there is a way of expressing the indicated values; still no
sign for triple dot is given in the "complete" tables of the
Criticism. The case is worth citing as illustrating in part the weak
and captious character of the Criticism.
1
128
The Criticism says: "The Braille does not represent the first in-
terval, because it is evidently unnecessary."
Every work on Harmony or Counterpoint speaks of this interval
31
and represents it. It is customary when two voices, as soprano and
alto, come together on the same tone to represent them in staff no-
tation by a note with a single head and two stems, one turning up-
ward, the other one downward, or in case of whole notes by two
open heads on the same line or space. One voice is sounding with
the other at the interval of a prime. Whenever voices occur in
chord formation they are expressed by interval signs, and it is con-
sistent, if not necessary, to treat primes in the same manner as other
intervals.
The Criticism says that the use in Braille of a single sign to rep-
resent two note values, viz., one sign for a whole or a note, an-
other for a ½ and a, etc., is not a “necessity."
I
1
If the use of such equivocal signs for note values is not based
upon some necessity incident to a vertical formation, why should
such an anomalous mode of expressing time values have been
chosen? A tangible notation cannot be superior to the staff nota-
tion which it represents, nor can the sense of touch be superior to
the sense of sight in the number, comprehensiveness and rapidity
of its impressions. The staff notation has eight specific signs for
time values, viz., whole, 2, 4, 8, 76, 32, 4, 18. Will any one
contend that there would be any advantage in reducing the number
to four, so that each note should stand for either of two values, to
be determined by the reader as he glances along from measure to
measure? The impressions of sight are gained much more rapidly
than those of touch, and the mental operations based thereon are
correspondingly more rapid. But will any one propose to reduce
the difficulties of time in the staff notation by reducing the number
of notes to four, and giving to each an equivocal value?
It avails nothing to say that every such equivocation can always
be resolved, for it still remains that they are always there to be re-
solved. These ambiguous time signs form no part of the staff no-
tation, and they ought not to enter into a tangible equivalent of that
notation.
It is said that the use of equivocal time signs in the Braille System
is not a necessity, but matter of choice, and that the users of Braille
justify the choice, which the Criticism says, "has resulted in giving
a simplicity to time values compared with which the Wait System
is labyrinthine." That is, ambiguity results in simplicity, and the
specific time symbols of the staff notation, which have an exact
counterpart in the New York Notation, are "labyrinthine," what-
ever that may mean. A single consideration will show that the
adoption of equivocal time values was necessary, as there was no
alternative. The vertical base form gives 63 different single
signs. Any addition can only be gained by compounding. Each
of the seven scale tones, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, may have either of
32
the eight time values, whole note, half note, etc. Therefore to give
each of the seven tones eight specific values as in the Staff Nota-
tion would require 56 signs out of the 63, leaving only seven for all
other uses.
As these would be entirely inadequate, resort must be
had to compounding. Of the two evils, the lesser was chosen. The
reader will see that the difficulty is inherent, and inseparable from 'the
vertical structure. And yet the Criticism would have its readers
believe that the recourse to ambiguous time values was in no way
necessary, but altogether optional and wise. Still, the working
rules of the Braille Notation state how certain ambiguities may be
avoided. But in attempting to avoid one error another is made,
for the mode prescribed involves a violation of Musical Form and
of correct grammatical writing.
Referring again to the pictorial tables given in the Criticism, I
would say that they convey a wrong impression as to the compact-
ness of the Braille signs, by placing them much closer together than
in actual practice, or than they should be relatively to the New
York signs.
Further, a mere table of signs is of little value for comparison in
the absence of working rules, which often prescribe that a sign must
appear twice or three times to indicate the effect, instead of only
once, as the reader will infer from the table.
Other errors in the Criticism might be noticed, but want of time
forbids.
I desire here to disclaim any feeling of antagonism, any spirit of
captious criticism, or any wish unduly to disparage the Braille
Musical Notation. It is a noble creation, having a most beneficent
design.
In reference to my advocacy of the New York System, I may
say, that had Dr. Howe and Mr. Chapin accepted my proposal that
we should unite upon the Braille Code, I should have devoted my
best energies to improving and upbuilding that system, which in
some form or other would now be in general use in the United
States. But the proposal was not accepted. Meantime the New
York System has been recognized and widely used. There are
those who, for one reason or another, have not chosen to use this
system, and although it seems that by the general adoption of the
New York System every desired end may be attained with less ex-
pense and in much less time than can be otherwise, still no one
should be factiously hindered or obstructed in the adoption of such
means as may be deemed best under various conditions and cir-
cumstances. The work of development has only just begun.
Where one instrumentality cannot be used, another should be em-
ployed, and the fittest will be sure to survive.
G
In conclusion, the following brief chronological summary will be
33
instructive to all, and especially to those who have more recently
entered into the work.
Prior to 1868 punctographic writing was little known, and no
books in embossed points had been printed for the general use of
touch readers.
In 1868, or prior thereto, a union on the basis of the Braille Sys-
tem was proposed by me to Dr. S. G. Howe and to Mr. Wm.
Chapin, but the proposition was not accepted by either of these
gentlemen.
In 1871, the subject having been for some four years urgently
pressed upon the attention of the educators of the blind in this
country, it was brought before the meeting of educators held at In-
dianapolis in that year. After much deliberation, the Convention
approved the New York System, and passed a resolution declaring
that the New York System "should be taught in all institutions for
the education of the blind."
In 1872, at the meeting in Boston, I presented the outlines of a
system of Musical Notation, for the express purpose of learning
whether the plan would meet with sufficient favor to warrant me in
carrying it out; for I realized that the alphabetic and the musical
codes must go together, and that if a satisfactory music code could not
be worked out, which would command approval, as the complement
of the alphabetic code, further effort in this direction would be use-
less. After full discussion, the Convention requested me to go on
and perfect the "Musical Notation.”
In accordance with this request, and after much study and labor,
the "New York Point System of Musical Notation" was published
as part of my report for the same year.
In 1876 a committee was appointed to examine and report upon
the New York and Braille Music Codes, and in 1878 the com-
mittee reported in favor of the New York System.
Down to the present time (1892) the work of building up a litera-
ture, both general and special, in the New York System has steadily
progressed.
From what has been said, the following deductions may naturally
be drawn:
·
Ist. Inasmuch as the proposition for a union upon Braille was not
accepted when first made, and as down to 1872, when the question
was still an open one, no offer or suggestion of such union had at
any time been made by others; and inasmuch as the New York
System has not only been sanctioned, but has been established in
many schools and widely diffused throughout the United States and
Canada, duty and the general welfare alike require an adherence
to the policy thus fairly and deliberately adopted, until greater
progress and wider usefulness can be assured as the result of adopt-
ing some other course.
34
•
2d. In respect to resources, power of expression in writing, in
adaptability for combination with simple lineal signs in printing, in
respect to tangibility, smallness of bulk and of cost, the New York
Code is superior to any known code on the vertical plan yet pro-
posed. To warrant the substitution of any other system, it is not
enough that it should be equal to the New York System; it should
be preeminently superior to it on both educational and economical
grounds.
3d. The multiplication of different systems inevitably involves a
waste of time and resources, and should be avoided whenever pos-
sible. Nevertheless, it will not do to adhere too exclusively to the
traditions and devices of the past. All progress and development,
however, must be based upon methods at once logical and necessary,
and should be secured by a policy generous and wise.
WILLIAM B. WAIT.
NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND,
MAY, 1892.

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