point. The kind of point best adapted to the hand can only be ascertained by a little experiment. While many writers prefer the ordinary dip pen, the fountain pen has so many advantages that it is to be recommended in all cases.
If a pencil is used—and many writers prefer it in spite of its known disadvantages—the student should be supplied with a sufficient number of well-sharpened pencils to obviate the necessity of writing with a dull point. A dull point influences the writing in a very marked degree. Pencil notes are apt to be large and inaccurately formed, and as the pencil dulls this tendency grows, making the notes very difficult to read.
Posture.—Perhaps no other feature of shorthand writing contributes so much to the ease, speed and accuracy of writing as does the position the writer assumes at the table. In the teaching of penmanship great emphasis is laid upon the correct posture. Posture becomes of even greater importance in shorthand writing, for shorthand not only must be written correctly, but to become highly useful it must be written at a very rapid rate of speed. The shorthand writer is also often required to write at a high rate of speed for long periods of time. Sustained effort thus becomes a necessity. Since each character he writes in shorthand is fraught with greater meaning, it must be executed with much greater care even at the higher speeds.
The position at the desk should receive the most earnest attention of all writers who wish to become rapid and skillful. In order that the student may gain an accurate idea of the best posture, illustrations of the position of some of the best writers of the system are presented. An analysis of these illustrations, and a study of the technique of the best writers, will show that
