ove to be more legible
than the light-faced types. The optimal heaviness of face
seems to lie in a mean between the bold faces and such light
faces as Scotch Roman and Cushing Monotone.

5. The initial position in a group of letters is the most
advantageous position for legibility; the final position
comes next in order of advantage; and the intermediate or
internal positions are least favorable for legibility.

6. The size and the form of the letters which stand adjacent
to any given letter play an important role in determining
its legibility; and the misreadings which occur in the case
of grouped letters are of a wholly different sort from those
which occur in the case of isolated letters. When letters of
the same height or of similar form appear side by side, they
become relatively illegible. But the juxtaposition of an
ascender, a descender and a short letter tends to improve
the legibility of each, as also does the juxtaposition of
letters which are made up wholly or chiefly of straight
lines and letters which are made up wholly or chiefly of
curved lines.

7. The quality and the texture of the paper is a much less
significant factor than has been supposed, provided, of
course, that the illumination and the inclination of the
paper are such as to secure an optimal condition of light
reflection from its surface.

8. There is an urgent need for modification of certain
letters of the alphabet.

Contrary to previous results with special types, these tests of
commercial types represent the capitals as more legible, by about
one-fifth, than the lowercase letters; but, in view of the much greater
bigness and heaviness of capitals, the earlier judgment would seem to be
supported so far as the letter forms of the two classes are concerned.
The order of each class, taking an average of all the faces, is as
follows: W M L J I A T C V Q P D O Y U F H X G N Z K E R B S m w d j l p
f q y i h g b k v r t n c u o x a e z s. Considering only the lowercase
letters, which represent nine-tenths of the print that meets the eye, we
still have four of the most used letters, s e a o, in the lowest fourth
of the group, while s in both sizes of type and in all faces stands at
the bottom. The average legibility of the best and worst is: W, 300.2;
S, 205.7; m, 296.8; s, 152.6.

The tests were by distance;