A dash stands for a sign of repetition in catalogues of goods, where it implies _ditto_; and in catalogues of books, where a dash signifies _ejusdem_, instead of repeating the author’s name with the title of every separate treatise of his writing. A sign of repetition should never appear at the top of a page, but the name of the author, or of the merchandise, should be set out again at length. A dash likewise stands for _to_; as, chap. xvi. 3-17; that is, from the third to the seventeenth verse inclusive. At other times it serves for an index, to give notice that what follows it is a corollary of what has preceded; thus:— APOSTROPHE. The apostrophe [’] is a comma cast on the upper edge of a type, and is used as a sign of contraction or abbreviation of words in poetry or familiar conversation, as _We’re_, _o’er_, _don’t_, &c. In poetry, it should not be employed where the verb ends with e, as _love_, _change_, &c., but only in cases where the verb concludes with a consonant, as, _reign_, _obtain_, &c. It also marks the elision of a vowel at the beginning of words, as, _’scape_, or of a syllable, as, _’prentice_. The monosyllables _though_ and _through_ are sometimes shortened to _tho’_ and _thro’_, but very improperly, as they retain the same sound, and the abbreviation cannot in the slightest degree assist the versification. Words in the possessive case are generally known by having _’s_ for their termination. All quotations which are denoted at the beginning by inverted commas are closed with apostrophes. There is no space required between the apostrophe and the matter. HYPHEN. A hyphen is a sign of connection, and denotes that the part of a word at the end of a line belongs to the portion at the beginning of the next line. A compositor who studies propriety and neatness in his work will not allow an unnecessary division, even in a narrow measure, if he can avoid it by overrunning two or three lines of matter. In large type and narrow measures, the division of words cannot be avoided; but care should be taken that hyphens do not occur at the end of successive lines. In small type and wide measures, the hyphen may frequently be dispensed with, either by driving out or getting in the word, without interfering with the regularity of the spacing. The compositor who is careful on this point will find his advantage in the preference given to his work, and in the respect attached to his character as a master of his business. Numerous divisions down the side of a page and irregular spacing are the two greatest defects in composition. It is proper, if possible, to keep the derivative or radical word undivided: as, _occur-rence_, _gentle-man_, _respect-ful_, &c. In other cases, printers generally divide on the vowel, which is an excellent method.