FOOTNOTES:
[42] It is a common error to suppose that these initials stand for ante-meridian and post-meridian. Thus, Charles Dickens represents one of his characters in Pickwick as saying ‘Curious circumstance about those initials, sir,’ said Mr. Magnus. ‘You will observe—P.M.—post meridian. In hasty notes to intimate acquaintance, I sometimes sign myself “Afternoon”. It amuses my friends very much, Mr. Pickwick.’—Dickens, Pickwick Papers, p. 367. Oxford edit., 1903.—H. H.
[43] ‘Or better M CM IV’—J. A. H. M.
SPECIAL SIGNS OR SYMBOLS
The signs + (plus), - (minus), = (equal to), > (‘larger than’, in etymology signifying ‘gives’ or ‘has given’), < (‘smaller than’, in etymology signifying ‘derived from’), are now often used in printing ordinary scientific works, and not in those only which are mathematical or arithmetical.
In such instances +, -, =, >, <, should in the matter of spacing be treated as words are treated. For instance, in—
spectabilis, Bœrl. l. c. (= Haasia spectabilis)
the = belongs to ‘spectabilis’ as much as to ‘Haasia’, and the sign should not be put close to ‘Haasia’. A thin space only should be used.
In Philological works an asterisk * prefixed to a word signifies a reconstructed form, and must be so printed; a dagger † signifies an obsolete word. The latter sign, placed before a person’s name, signifies deceased.
In Medical books the formulae are set in lower-case letters, j being used for i both singly and in the final letter, e.g. gr.j (one grain), ℥viij (eight ounces), ʒiij (three drachms), ℈iij (three scruples), ♏︎iiij (four minims).