Page:The practice of typography; correct composition; a treatise on spelling, abbreviations, the compounding and division of words, the proper use of figures and nummerals by De Vinne, Theodore Low, 1828-1914.djvu/59

 makes a crooked or unbalanced line of display. When honorary titles are numerous it is the usual practice to put them in one or more lines of small capitals or small lower-case below the name.

Abbreviations may make confusion. The initials A.M. are abbreviations of three distinct phrases: master of arts, in the year of the world, and before noon. Dr. stands for doctor and debtor; P.M., for postmaster and afternoon. As a rule, the context prevents misunderstanding, but abbreviations are sometimes used which cannot be explained by the context. What is worse, a short word may be misunderstood as an abbreviation.

The abbreviations oftenest used are to be found in the dictionaries; but for the abbreviations used in works on chemistry, botany, medicine, mathematics, and other sciences, in which they are sometimes conjoined with signs, an approved modern text-book of these sciences is the only safe authority.