(as in encyclopedias and other books of reference); but when a work is merely referred to, either as being familiar to the reader or as having been already mentioned, the should not be capitalized except at the beginning of a sentence (for the use of the with the names of newspapers and other periodicals, and of ships, see § 513):

1. The Vicar of Wakefield; The Traveler; The Pilgrim's Progress; The Life of Samuel Johnson.

The subject of the poem called The Royal Progress was the arrival of the king. MACAULAY.

2. Goldsmith published the Vicar of Wakefield in 1766. MACAULAY.

It is quoted from the Bible (§ 450); the Iliad; the Æneid; the Oxford English Dictionary; The Oxford English Dictionary is indispensable.

NOTE. In the spoken language, or in connected writing, the or a (an) at the beginning of a title may be omitted after a noun in the possessive case or after a possessive adjective (§ 118), to avoid clumsiness (on the other hand, 'The Will, by Barrie', for example, is fai better than Barrie's Will' or 'Barrie's The Will'):

९

1. I remember a passage in Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield'. -JOHNSON.

2. Goldsmith published his Vicar of Wakefield. 3. Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson.

MACAULAY.

4. A Tale of Two Cities; Charles Dickens's Tale of Two Cities.

450. The Bible, etc. The Holy Bible' and 'The Book of Common Prayer' may be formally so quoted, but they are usually shortened to the familiar names the Bible and the Prayer Book. In such phrases as 'my Bible' and 'your Prayer Book' they are common nouns, but retain their capitals.

The names of the Bible (including its divisions, versions, etc.) and of other sacred books begin with a capital letter :

The Bible, the Book, the Scriptures, the Old Testament, the Gospels, the Authorized Version (or King James Bible), the Revised Version (1881, 1885), the Koran, the Vedas.

GEOGRAPHIC AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC NAMES

451. Lines and points; areas. The imaginary lines and points on the earth's surface, and other terms that are not felt to be crystallized as proper names, do not begin with a capital letter (Equator is capitalized by the Oxford University Press); similarly, geographical terms used in a general sense; but when the names denote specific areas of the earth's surface, they begin with a capital letter:

1. The arctic circle, the north pole, the equator, the horizon, the tropic of Capricorn, Mason and Dixon's line, Newton's first law of motion, Boyle's law, Joule's equivalent.

2. The arctic regions, the northern cities, the Pacific coast (in a general sense; but, the Pacific Coast, with definite boundaries), the Arctic coast (coast of the Arctic Ocean).

3. The Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Northwest Territory, the Northern and Southern delegates (= of the North and the South), the Western Highland, the Atlantic Coast Plain, the Cotton Belt, the Corn Belt.

452. Regions. The important regions (more or less definite in their area) of a country or of the earth's surface begin with a capital letter:

The North, the South, the East, the West, the Northwest, the Orient, the Far East, the Levant, North Africa, Western New York, the Western Hemisphere, the New World, the Old World.

453. State, territory, etc. The words state, territory, dominion, province, and the like, when denoting specific geographical divisions, begin with a capital letter (for 'church and state', see § 440, N. 1):

The North Central States, the Western States, the Southern States (south of Mason and Dixon's line and the Ohio River), the Gulf States, the State of Arizona, New York State, the Territory of Alaska.

454. Heavenly bodies. The heavenly bodies and constellations begin with a capital letter (sun, earth, and moon have long been written without capitals; but they are proper names, and should be capitalized. Sun and Earth are now capitalized by the Oxford University Press):

1. Is Jupiter or Venus the evening star now?

2. Which is the constellation of Canis Major?

3. The North Star is in the constellation of the Little Bear, or Ursa Minor.

4. The Milky Way (or the Galaxy); the Dog Star; the Lesser Dog.

455. Geology; plants and animals. The names of ages and strata in geology begin with a capital letter; so, also, the Latin names of genera, families, and higher classifications of plants and animals, but not the adjectives denoting the species, nor the English nouns derived from the Latin names:

1. This belongs to the Triassic period; Upper Cretaceous. 2. Man is of the genus Homo.

A plant of the family Rosacea of the order Rosales.

3. The Rosa chinensis ('the China rose'); Lynx canadensis. 4. The Insecta (Latin); the insects (English).

NOTE. When botanical names are used as the common names of plants, flowers, and the like, they are not capitalized: the Geranium (genus); a geranium (a single plant or flower).

PARENTHETIC MATTER

456. Parentheses; brackets. Matter enclosed in parentheses or brackets does not begin with a capital letter unless it is preceded by a period :

1. A noun (page 4) is the name of a person or a thing.

A noun is the name of a person or a thing. (Page 4.) 2. Hastings (so ran the tradition) had been picked up at sea. 3. They [the father and son] had not yet returned.

BILLS AND ACCOUNTS

457. Bills; accounts. In making out bills, or in keeping accounts, capitalize proper names and proper adjectives only:

NOTE. Some writers prefer to use emphatic capitals (§ 430).

ABBREVIATIONS

458. Abbreviations. The abbreviations of proper names and of titles used with them (§ 529) are capitalized; abbreviations consisting of the initial letters of words or phrases which are not proper names or titles are usually capitalized:

1. Mr. John P. Jones, Jr.

2. E. (east), W., N., S., MS. (manuscript), MSS. (manuscripts). 3. The abbreviations A. D. and B. C. are usually printed in small capitals (see § 417); the abbreviations for forenoon and afternoon are put in small capitals (A. M., P. M.) or in lower-case letters (a.m., p. m.; this is the style at the Oxford University Press); f. o. b. (' free on board') in lower-case letters; so also some common abbreviations of Latin words, such as e. g. (= exempli gratia, ' for example '), i.e. (= id est, ' that is '), etc. (= et cetera, ' and the rest').

NOTE. In writing abbreviated forms do not use both the period and the apostrophe (§ 510): Bldg. (not 'B'ld'g.'); acct. (not 'ac'ct.'); recd.; Mfg.

459. For the use of abbreviations see § 529. The usual abbreviations will be found in most dictionaries. Many libraries, business houses, and the like have special lists for their own use. (Exercise XLI, § 586.)

CHAPTER IX

PUNCTUATION AND OTHER MARKS

Why, gentlemen, if you know neither the road you are going, nor where you are, nor the road you came, the first thing I have to inform you is, that you have lost your way. — GOLDSMITH.

460. Punctuation. An era of intense study of grammar has been followed by the present violent reaction. But ignorance of grammar produces faulty punctuation, as can be seen on every side. If we try to read present-day English aloud, we meet so many perplexities and annoyances that we quickly give up this useful practice (§§ 361, 364). Teachers complain not only that they spend much of their time in helping students over difficult passages, but that frequently they themselves are not sure of the author's meaning. Students, when reading alone, often receive vague or erroneous impressions, and do not derive the aid which they should to enable them to present their own thought more clearly. In writing and in punctuating, we should seek and keep before us the point of view of the reader, especially of the young reader, and try to express ourselves in such a way as not to increase the difficulties of what we have to say by the manner in which we say it. (Exercise XLI, c, § 586.)

Marks of punctuation, like guideposts, are intended to point out the way, that the traveler may continue his journey without having to retrace his steps. Furthermore, as guideposts stand only at the intersections of the roads, so marks of punctuation should stand only at the turning points of the thought; otherwise they distract the attention, and waste time and strength.