The grasp on the key should be firm but not rigid. Avoid using too much strength or a light hesitating touch. Endeavor to acquire a positive, firm up and down motion of the key. Avoid all side pressure, and do not allow the fingers to leave the key when making the signals. The movement is made principally with the wrist, with the fingers and hand perfectly elastic. A dot is made by a single instantaneous, downward stroke of the key. A dash is made by holding the key down for the same period of time that it takes to make three dots. A long dash is made by holding the key down for the same time that it takes to make five dots. A space in the letters, such as, for instance, the space between the first and last two dots in the letter _R_ should occupy the time of one dot. The space between each letter should occupy the time required for two dots, and the space between words should occupy the time required for three dots. Commence the use of the key by making dots in succession, first at the rate of two every second, and increasing the speed until ten can be made. Practice should be continued until three hundred and sixty dots a minute can be made with perfect regularity. Then begin making dashes at the rate of two every three seconds, and continue until one hundred and twenty a minute can be made with perfect regularity. Practise the long dashes at the rate of one a second, and increase until ninety can be made in a minute. [Illustration: Fig. 142.—The Morse Telegraphic Code.] When this has been accomplished, practise the following letters until they can be perfectly made. Each row of letters is an exercise which should be practised separately until mastered. Dot Letters E I S H P 6 Dot and Space Letters O C R Y Z & Dash Letters T L M 5 O Dots and Dashes A U V 4 Dashes and Dots N D B 8 Mixed Dots and Dashes F G J K Q W X 1 2 3 7 9 Period After you can write these different letters, practise making words. Select a list of commonly used words. When words seem easy to write, practise sending pages from a book. Systematic and continual practice will enable the student to make surprising progress in mastering the art of sending. Reading and receiving messages must be practised with a companion student. Place two instruments in separate rooms or in separate houses so that the operators will be entirely dependent upon the instruments for their communication with each other. Start by transmitting and receiving simple messages. Then use pages from a book, and increase the speed until it is possible to send and receive at least 15 words a minute without watching the sounder but merely depending upon the clicks to determine the duration of the dots and dashes.