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/98

 Decimal fractions are most intelligibly stated in figures, with the decimal point placed on the line of the figure, as it is in .638. The inversion of the decimal point, as in &dot;638, is not an improvement. The decimal point must always precede the decimal figures. If division has to be made between dollars and cents, the point should be before the cents. The ciphers .00 should not be added in paragraph matter to any statement of even dollars: $100 is better than $100.00, which may be confusing. Yet the addition of the ciphers is proper in every table that contains columns separating dollars and cents.

When figures of very large amounts, as 23,762 or 5,368,872, are of frequent recurrence, the thousands should be separated by a comma; but it is not necessary to use the comma for four figures only, as 5962, nor should the comma be inserted between figures that express dates, as 1861.

Figures in a descriptive text are not pleasing, but they are necessary when the amounts are large and of frequent recurrence. To put the figures in the preceding paragraph in words would require more space, and would not be regarded as an improvement by the reader. In the texts of formal documents, however, words are preferred to figures, not only for their greater exactness, but for their neater appearance. As figures are ascending letters, occupying two thirds of the height of the body, the bunching of many of them in a paragraph spots the page and produces the effect of