flying tails, of Q and R; but never weight those which,
contrariwise, slope up from left to right, with a single exception in the
case of the letter Z, in which, if rule I be followed, the sloping line (in
this case made with a down stroke) will be the only one possible to accent.
III, Always accent the directly perpendicular lines, except in the N, where
these lines seem originally to have been made with an up stroke of the pen;
and the first line of the M, where the perpendiculars originally sloped in
towards the top of the letter (see 2). On the round letters [3] the accents
should occur at the sides of the circle, as virtually provided in rule III,
or on the upper right and lower left quarters (see 1-2), where in pen-drawn
letters the accent of the down sloping stroke would naturally occur, as
virtually determined in rule II.

The "serif"--a cross-stroke or tick--finishes the free ends of all lines
used in making a Roman capital. The value of the serif in stone-cut letters
seems obvious. To define the end of a free line a sharp cut was made across
it with the chisel, and as the chisel was usually wider than the thin line
this cut extended beyond it. Serifs were added to the ends of the thick
lines either for the sake of uniformity, or may have been suggested by the
chisel-marked guide lines themselves. Indeed in late stone-cut Roman work
the scratched guide lines along the top and bottom of each line of the
inscription are distinctly marked and merge into the serifs, which extend
farther than in earlier examples. The serif was adopted in pen letters
probably from the same reasons that caused it to be added to the stone-cut
letters, namely, that it definitely finished the free lines and enhanced
the general squareness and finish of the letter's aspect.

[Illustration: 1. ALPHABET AFTER SERLIO. RECONSTRUCTED BY ALBERT R. ROSS]

[Illustration: 2. ALPHABET AFTER SERLIO. RECONSTRUCTED BY ALBERT R. ROSS]

[Illustration: 3. WIDTH PROPORTIONS OF MODERN ROMAN CAPITALS. F.C.B.]

An excellent model for constructing the Roman capitals in a standard form
will be found in the beautiful adaptation by Mr. A. R. Ross, 1 and 2, from
an alphabet of capitals drawn by Sebastian Serlio, an Italian architect,
engraver and painter of the sixteenth century, who devised some of the most
refined variants of the classic Roman letter. Serlio's original forms,
which are shown in 39 and 40, were intended for pen or printed use; but in
altering