poet," "Dickens, the
novelist"; but, if we wished to distinguish them from another Burns
and another Dickens, we should omit the comma.

It is of Pliny the naturalist, not of Pliny the
letter-writer, that we are now speaking.

Again, where the general name precedes, we should in most cases use no
point, for the special name will be restrictive: "the poet Burns,"
"the novelist Dickens."

There is, perhaps, not much authority for the consistent carrying out
of this distinction; but it seems useful and logical. Some cases, such
as "Paul the Apostle," "William the Conqueror," "Thomas the Rhymer,"
"Peter the Hermit," present no difficulty. The name and the
descriptive title are blended together, and form as distinctly one
name as does "Roderick Random."

XVI. A conjunction marks a transition to something new--enforcing,
qualifying, or explaining, what has gone before, and is therefore
generally preceded by some point. The proper point before a
conjunction is determined by many circumstances: among others, by the
more or less close connexion of the things joined, by the number of
words, and by the use of points for other purposes in the same
sentence. To deal with the different conjunctions one by one, would
involve a repetition of much that is said in other rules. For
instance, _if_, _unless_, _though_, _for_, _because_, _since_, and the
like, will be pointed in accordance with Rule IX. It will be well,
however, to lay down separate rules for the pointing of the common
conjunctions, _and_ and _or_.

1. _AND._--(a) Where "and" joins two single words, as a rule no point
is used.

No work has been so much studied and discussed.

Compare this with the following sentence, where groups of words are
joined.

The work has been much studied, and has been much discussed.

In the following sentence the insertion of a comma would change the
meaning.

On this shelf you will put books and pamphlets published in
the present year.

As the sentence stands, "published in the present year" applies both
to books and to pamphlets: books published in the present year, and
pamphlets published in the present year. If there were a comma before
"and," the meaning would be: "On this shelf you will put books of any
date, and pamphlets of the present year."

(b) When "and" joins the separate words of a series of three or more
words, a comma is placed before it.

Trees, and bridges, and houses, wer