Sec. 2. The alphabet of Phonetic Shorthand contains forty letters, representing the forty elementary sounds of the English language. These letters are divided into two general classes, namely, Consonants and Vowels. The consonant sounds are represented by straight and curved lines (called stems), and the vowels by dots, dashes, and angles. The stems of a word are written together, each stem after the first one being joined to the one preceding it, without lifting the pen; and the stems thus joined are termed the outline of the word. The vowels are inserted after the outline is thus completed.

a. The names of the letters, and the sounds indicated by them, must be thoroughly learned. Make the stems uniform in length, and exact in form, direction, and shading. Write on ruled paper - paper ruled with double lines is by far the best - and always write with pen and ink. When stems are joined at an angle, make the angle distinct. When two straight stems are joined without an angle, write them with a continuous straight line twice the length of a single stem; and if one stem be light and the other heavy, shade them carefully into each other. (See illustrations on page 5.) b. In writing the exercises upon the consonants, the first upright or inclined stem in an outline should be placed upon the line; and if the first stem be horizontal, followed by a stem struck upward or downward, the former must be placed in such position that the latter may rest upon the line; but if all the stems of an outline be horizontal, it should be written on the line.