An Experimental Study of Writing Movements. 
247 
of the letter l and the first stroke of the letter e. A still more 
striking illustration of the relation between hand and finger move¬ 
ments is found in the case of the letter a. From 6 to 8 in the 
tracer record, we have the total movement of the hand from the 
top of one l to the top of the next succeeding l. The movement 6—7 
in the tracer record, represents the part played by the hand in mak¬ 
ing the downward stroke of the l and in carrying the fingers forward 
to the position from which they form the a. If 6—7 is contrasted 
with 2—3 which represents a similar movement from the top of an l 
to the top of its next succeeding letter, a very characteristic fact in 
all hand movements will be observed. It is the fact that in most 
cases the hand does its part in the formation of a letter before the 
fingers begin their finer formative work. After making, then, the 
long movement 6—7 the hand participates in the completion of the 
a only to the extent indicated by the lines 7—11. The point 11 is 
somewhat less definite in its localization and is consequently indicated 
below, rather than above the line. 
Another important feature of this tracer record appears in the 
differences in slope of the three parts 1—10, 10—5, and 5—9. The 
part 1—10 indicates the movement of the hand during the writing 
of the first group of letters. Its slope indicates that the hand 
executed a" considerable movement from left to right on its own 
center in the wrist. During the pause between the writing of the 
two groups of letters, an entirely different form of movement was 
executed, as shown in the line 10—5. In the first place, the slope 
indicates that this movement was made from an entirely different 
center. It was, indeed, an arm movement centered at the elbow 
instead of at the wrist. But it also included a wrist movement from 
right to left, as indicated by the convex form of the line just before 5. 
The interval between the groups of letters was, accordingly, employed 
m executing an arm movement which carried the hand forward, and 
m executing a backward wrist movement which prepared the hand 
for the new series of forward movements which we find taking place 
from 5—9. This new series was made up again of wrist movements 
from left to right, performed during the writing of the last group 
of letters. 
Figure 3 from a different writer presents a somewhat different