Page:The record interpreter- a collection of abbreviations.djvu/18

xii lived, are not included in the list of surnames, but will be found among the list of places.

In the list of Christian names there are several blanks in the second column. These are opposite to Latin names which I inserted in my list, hoping some day to find them in English, but that day has not yet come; so, confessing my ignorance, I leave the blanks for some more learned or more fortunate person than myself to fill up.

There is another matter of which there is no mention in the first edition, but an explanation may be of some use to those who are not already familiar with it.

In accounts of the period when Roman numerals were used, an arrangement of dots is often found in the margin, of which the following is a specimen: —

These were apparently put down while the accountant was making a calculation, and afterwards the amount which they represent, inserted in the proper place in Roman numerals. Their meaning is as follows:

The perpendicular lines mark the division into pounds, shillings and pence.

Dots on the line count as units.

Dots below the line count as units.

Dots above the line on the left hand side in the pound and shilling columns, count for 10.

Dots above the line on the right hand side in the pound and shilling columns, count for 5.