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206
Annual Report of the London County Council, 1912.
with an interlinear distance of 3 mm., and for students over 14, having regard to use of technical
books, logarithm tables and dictionaries a minimum height of small letter of 15 mm.
These standards may be compared with what is actually observed in practice. Newspapers,
which form the bulk of popular reading have smaller print. Measurements show that the height of
small letters in most newspapers ranges from 1.30 mm. to 1.40 mm.
The standard for book print advocated by Cohn and generally accepted on the Continent is
a minimum height ot l.5 mm. for small letters.
In regard to ocular hygiene in educational work, the size of book print is, however, only a part
of the general question of eye work for children and young people. Exclusion of sewing as part of the
necessary work of the infant department has gradually been brought about in recent years. During
the last ten years there has been great improvement in the general reduction of the amount and kind of
fine and near eye work required in schools.
The publication during 1912 of the report of a committee of the British Association served to
direct renewed attention to the print of school books. The report gives a careful statement of what
the print of school books should be. It gives examples of minimal sizes recommended for children in
five age groups. Such a report, although based on well established researches in the past, is bound to
be somewhat dogmatic, and in the absence of detailed reasons the five sub-divisions would seem to
entail unnecessary administrative difficulties on education authorities and on printers, publishers and
those commercially interested in book production.
For practical purposes the size of reading types need only be considered for three groups of
children:—
A.—Children learning to read (infants) who require very large print with distinct letters.
B.—Children who have not mastered the mechanical difficulties of reading (aged 7 to 10
years).
C.—Scholars who read with facility (over 10 years of age).
For school purposes the British Association Committee report may be followed with the omission
of the recommendations for the sizes of type for children over 12.
The committee appears to have paid regard to the average attainments of children at various
age without going into the psychology and pathology of vision. The statement is repeated that the
acuteness of vision when school life begins is below the standard proper to the fully developed eye ;
the correctness of this is open to grave doubt as the proportion of children below 6 years of age who fail
to reach normal acuity (V 6/6) proves to be comparatively small if suitable precautions are used in
testing. On the other hand in suggesting a smaller type for children over 12, the committee does not
appear to have taken into consideration the large proportion whose astigmatism then begins to make
itself manifest. Considerable allowance for astigmatism of low degree and other visual defects should
be made, so that a theoretical determination of print sizes based on normal vision would probably give
unhygienic results for a large proportion of scholars.
The sizes of type and the relations and spacing of words and lines are best determined by trial;
for example, the letters at the beginning and end of words are more legible when tested this way than
in any other position in a word.
It is usual in England and America to measure these relations by " printers' points," of which
seventy-two go to an inch.
Various types are usually expressed in terms of these points, the height of the solid bar or body
of the type being stated as, say, 24, 20 or 10 point. The actual size of the letter form or face does not
necessarily correspond with the height. Although usually a certain height goes with the type body,
yet printers speak of a large face or a small faced type so that an 11 point body might be made with
a small face of letter corresponding to that usual in 10 point body or even less. The actual form of the
letter is of importance, but provided the due ratio of black and white appears in the letters, with the
exception of exclusion of bizarre forms, the form or style of type does not need to be specified in any
regulations which might be issued. It would be unwise, for instance, to stipulate that school books
should have old style letters, although this kind of type has the advantage of improving with use, and
is to be regarded as one of the best.
Experience shows that a minimal size of type can be prescribed for each age group of children.
The most suitable minimal sizes to fix for infants books are those of 24 point types, for children under
10,14 point, and for other children 11 point type. The sizes of letters being prescribed the clear distance
between the words should be equal to the width of a standard letter " n " and the distance of white
surface between the lines should not be less than double the height of small letters. In the Russian
regulations with small letters of 175mm. for elementary schools and 15 for older scholars it is stipulated
that the distance between the lines must be not less than 3 mm. clear.
The specification of the actual height of the letters, and of the spacing between the lines would
be the simplest and most scientific way to state a minimum, leaving it to the printers to decide upon
their own mechanical adjustments to comply with the requirement.
Italics being less legible than other letters should be avoided as far as possible, and for characters
in mathematical works the rules set out above should be followed.
For higher grade schools and institutions where dictionaries, reference books, tables of logarithms,
or other bulky books are used, the convenience of portability and small type is very great, and although
such print is not recommended for general use exceptions should be allowed under these special
conditions.