repays careful examination. It may be
a spurred, ticked or dotted beard, but in any case the initial stroke
must be carefully examined, whatever form it may assume, for the
oft-emphasized reason that it belongs so essentially to the
clue-providing class of unguarded and unpremeditated automatic strokes
that are overlooked by the writer.

Variations in the form of a capital must be noted, and a record kept,
for, however great the variety, it will be found that one particular
form is more used than another, and may be regarded as the normal type
of the writer.

A peculiarity of some writers is the use of an enlarged form of the
small letter for a capital. The letters so made to serve a double
purpose are generally _A_, _C_, _E_, _G_, _M_, _N_, _O_, _P_, _Q_, _S_,
_U_, _V_ and _W_. They are referred to as small capitals.

CHAPTER VIII.

PUNCTUATION.

The ampersand (&) is a symbol that provides excellent material for clues
to tricks and mannerisms. It varies in form from a mere _v_-shaped tick
of almost indeterminate character to an ornate thing of loops and
flourishes. It is very sparingly employed by illiterate persons, and
some educated writers avoid its use under the impression that, like the
abbreviation of words, it is vulgar. In a few high-class ladies' schools
its use is sternly repressed, and there are many fluent and habitual
writers who never employ this sign. This in itself supplies a useful
clue to characterisation. Others, again, only employ it in such
combinations as "& Co.," "&c.," though this latter abbreviation is, as
often as not, written "etc." by many persons.

The dash (--) occurs very largely in many writings, and particularly in
those of ladies, who regard it as a universal punctuation mark, and
employ it indiscriminately as comma and full stop. Many persons of both
sexes invariably make a dash below the address on an envelope, using it
as a kind of final flourish. A close examination of the samples provided
in such a writing will reveal many valuable idiosyncrasies. It may be a
bold, firm horizontal line, a curve with a tick at either end, or both;
a wavy line or even an upward or downward line. Note, also, the ragged
edge, as it affords an important clue to the style of holding the pen.
The dash is so essentially an unpremeditated and mechanically-formed
hand-gesture that it often betrays more of the character of the writer
than any other letter. Cases have been known in which the w