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/92

 when the numbers are large but not too frequent, words are to be preferred if space will permit.


 * The regiment consisted of ten hundred and forty-eight men.
 * The returns showed twenty-nine killed, forty-four wounded, and twenty-six missing.

In ordinary description the expression of numbers by hundreds is preferred to that by thousands: twenty-eight hundred and sixty is a more approved phrase than two thousand eight hundred and sixty. In legal documents a contrary method prevails : dates always appear by thousands, and spelled-out words are obligatory for measurements, values, and their fractions in every form.

When space is limited, and numbers appear in every sentence and are complex, calling for many digits, spelled-out words are a hindrance and of no benefit to the reader. The information intended will be more quickly discerned by figures, which must be regarded as proper when they really help the reader. Yet it is not becoming to put figures in one chapter or paragraph and not in another. Uniformity of style should be maintained throughout. It is better to give slight offence by an apparently pedantic precision in one paragraph than to give greater offence by varying the style in different paragraphs to the confusion of the reader.