the work of scholars, and the adoption of such innovations would seem to
belong to the book printer rather than to the commercial printer. The
public mind as a whole is conservative. It is not hospitable to changes and
does not soon become aware of them, much less familiar with them. The
commercial printer makes his appeal to the mind of the general public. He
will do well to use a vehicle familiar, intelligible, and acceptable to it.

Correct spelling is mainly a matter of habit and observation. To a certain
extent it is a matter of careful pronunciation, but this is not always a
safe or even a possible guide. The vowels preceding or following the one on
which the primary accent falls, sometimes called obscure vowels, are so
slurringly pronounced that even a pedantic precision will hardly make it
possible to indicate clearly which vowel is used. The writer remembers
seeing an examination paper written by a fourth year medical student in
which the word _fever_ was spelled _fevor_. A moment's thought will show
that so far as pronunciation is concerned the word might be spelled
_fevar_, _fevir_, _fevor_, _fever_, or _fevur_ without any appreciable
difference. The correct spelling is merely a matter of observation.

The author has on his desk at the moment of writing these lines half a
dozen good books, each containing a set of rules for spelling. From these
it would be easy to compile a set of fairly good rules. Each of these
rules, however, has exceptions, in some cases quite numerous. To remember
these rules with their exceptions would be a considerable mental task and
to apply them would be cumbrous and time consuming. The effort would
probably resolve itself into an actual learning of the words which present
difficulties. The best way to become a good speller is to form the habit
of careful reading, observing the form of every word as it passes before
the eye and so unconsciously fixing it in the memory. The dictionary should
be consulted whenever there is any doubt.

If you are to write a word, call up a mental picture of it, and if the
picture is not perfectly clear go to the dictionary and fix a correct image
of it in your mind. Be careful to pronounce every word you use as correctly
as possible and you will get all the aid pronunciation can give you.
Careless speaking and careless reading are the two great sources of
incorrect spelling.

The following tables will be found useful in settling practice with regard