ing link. Note
whether it is carried low down, making the letter like an _a_, whether
it is joined to the body by an eye, and if the toe is curved or angular.
Note, also, the general conformation of the circular body and compare
the toe with that in _b_, _f_, _v_, and _w_.

_p._--There are several forms of this letter, and a writer who affects
one of them generally repeats it often. The shank may be barred or
looped, wholly or in part, especially when used as an initial. The body
generally offers ample material for examination.

_q_ is also a letter with which great liberties are taken, and is the
subject of several variations. Some writers make no distinction between
_g_ and _q_, and the final stroke often supplies the main characteristic
of this letter.

_r._--This important letter has two forms--the square, or eyed, and the
hooked. Many variants are employed in forming it, as the specimens in
the examples show. Many writers unconsciously form a habit of using both
_r_'s, but with a certain degree of system. For example, one may use the
hook _r_ always as a final, and the eyed _r_ as an initial. The
formation of the eye should be specially studied, with the shoulder,
which may be formed as a semicircle, an arc, a straight bar or an
angular _v_. The hooked _r_ is equally rich in varying forms, and the
letter forms an interesting study.

_s._--This is a letter of such frequent recurrence in the English
language that it not unnaturally has become the subject of a variety of
forms, and this despite the fact that its regulation shape is
exceedingly simple and rudimentary. The majority of writers have one
favourite form of the letter, which, like the _k_, becomes
characteristic.

_t._--This letter is important because of its frequent recurrence, and
on account of the variations of form, the bar or crossing being the most
fruitful in material for observation. There are two usual forms of the
_t_, the hooked and crossed, and the barred, and they are equally
valuable and characteristic. The crossing of a hooked _t_, like the
dotting of an _i_, is so mechanical an act that it often reveals
important evidence. The cross stroke when closely examined will be found
to present many variations. It may be a fine horizontal line, a curve, a
heavy short dash; it may be ticked or dotted at either end or both--in
short, there is scarcely an end to the numerous forms this important
hand-gesture may assume. Then its relative position