The Science Of The Pen

That the handwriting lias oertain raarked ;ics in every individual, and that these eharacteriatioB, properly exaódned and Interpreted aecording to given rulos and methoris, will teil us more concerning the indiviilual eharacter of the writer, is an established tact, and the taUilation of these rules and of this method is now complete in the works of such acknowlodged uut horities as Rosa Baughan, L'Abbe Flaiidiin and Adolphe Henze. Adrien Desbarrollcs in his major work has devoted some 200 pages to this branch of the science of the hand, besiiUs Uring the author of a standard work on the subjects, so that graphology, or, as it is sometimos called, "grammatomancy, ' ' boasts a literature of its own that it is not my intention to supplement in this plaoe, "The )nore I compare different handnritings," ays Lavater, "the more I am convinced that handwriting is the expression of the eharacter of him who writes. Each nat ion has ita national eharacter of writing as the. physiognomy of each people expresses the most salient points of charaeter in the nation," and I may quote the remark of Rosa Baughan: "That the handwriting really reflecte the personality of the writer is evident from the fact that it alters and devolops with the intelligence, that it beeomes firm when the eharacter strengthens, weak and feeble when the person who writes it is ill or agitated, and erratic when he is under the influence of great joy, grief or any other passion. Writing which kas a tendeney to ascend toward the end of the lines denotes always ambition, prosperity and toooeaa, while writing which, on the contrary, has a tendeney to deseend betraysmelaneholy, ill healthand taciturnity. If a writing which descends thus is disjointed and interspersed with meaningless ornament it is a sign of a tendeney toward madness. Flourishes are always bad, denoting vanity, conceit and self assertion, while peculiarly formed letters denote invariabj- - and obviously - eccentricity. More can be told by the observation of single letters, especially capitals, than anything else. Thus a capital A denotes great sense of beauty, and strong will is shown in the strong barring. When the bar is a loop there is the same sense of beauty but less will. The script capital A shows simplicity and clearness of ideas. A looped d shows tenderness and generosity, while the Greek d or D indicates eccentricity and imagination. An F with a flying top betrays imagination and indifference, while a curly one shows rultivation and a sensitive mind. A curly H shows poetry and art, and a curly I gives grace and sense of beauty but the straight, like Brother Haite's and Osear Wilde's, gives a higher and more precised nature to ai tistic instinct and inoreases the poetic faculty. These instances are suffícient in this place for others I must retar you to Miss Rosa Baughan's excellent work, quoted above, to which I am indebted for these examples. Disproportionate loops betray self assertion, look out for them in letters like P and L and Y. Letters stopping short at their finals show economy, long or extended finals with spaces between the words indícate generosity, if not extravagance. Inward curves denotes egotism. Stops are also more distinctive. Heavy and black, they betray sensuality; long, they denote vivaeity and originality. An i dotted with a fleek indicatesrecklessness. Absence of stops shows want of caution and an unsuspeetiiii; nature. Take care then, O ray brethren, of "The Sette of Oilil Volumes1' lest you rn-klessly betray your viees inan Invitation to dinner, or confos yonr blackest crimes In the pages of a birtliilay book, as - ati revoir. Yours necromatically. - Ed. Heron-Allen in New York Mail and Express.