Each of these characters is taken to represent a hook with a short leg. =Ch= is considered as one consonant, and as =C= is not otherwise wanted, it might have been used alone but for its pronunciation being indefinite. If in the usual form of official imprint the hook, with its curve below, has its short leg facing to the left, thus, =J=, it is duly represented by the Roman letter of that shape. Observe that if you invert this character, or the type which represents it, thus ={inverted J}=, it will still point the observer to the =J= part of the index, on getting the curve set right. If the short leg of the figure points to the right it comes under =Ch=. If that happens to confront one in its inverted position it cannot be mistaken for a =J= figure, but must be looked for under =Ch=. In all cases the degree or direction of slope in the figures, with a few peculiar exceptions, is of no concern whatever, simplicity and directness of appeal being aimed at from the first. =B= and =P=. These consonants are used to denote a bow. =B= is the form of a simple bow with one lineation, or if two or more lineations blend into one, they are found on the _left_ side when the convexity of the curve is upwards. =P= is such a bow, but strengthened, as it were, by one or more blended lineations on the _right_ side, with the same position of the curve. A single line bow is never represented by =P=. If a bow with a plurality of blended lineations is inverted the reading is not at all affected. =T= and =D= represent pear-shaped, or battledore-like figures. =T= denotes such a figure free from attachment to environing lineations, while =D= stands for a similar figure fixed by its stem. Reverse the position of the figure or turn it upside down and its index quality is not affected. =K= and =G= represent spindle-like forms, like the above but with _two_ (opposite) stems instead of one. When the figure is moored by one stem it is denoted by =K=; when fixed at both ends or free at both, by =G=. Position does not affect these figures. =V= and =W=. These letters stand for whorls or spirals, a kind of figure that often presents much difficulty in finger-print classification. =W= is a whorl in which, tracing its course from the centre outwards, the pen goes round as a clock-hand turns, or as one looking towards the south perceives the sun to cross the sky. =V=, on the other hand, is one which, traced in the same way (from within outwards), the pen goes like the clock-hand backwards, or _widdershins_. Alteration in position makes no practical difference whatever in the reading of those figures into their proper syllables for an index. =O= and =Q= Although =O= is a vowel and will be met with again under that class, it is paired in a kind of way with =Q=. =O= denotes a _small_ circle or oval, or opaque, round, or ovoid dot, _contained in the core of a pattern_.