There is, it must now be observed, a flattened variety of A (ah), which will here be represented by the same letter italicized, thus, _A_, _a_, which is the so-called flat sound of A (ah) as when heard prolonged in m_a_re, pe_a_r, etc., or when stopped, in m_a_n, m_a_t, etc. This sound is intermediate in position between E and A (ah). That is to say, it is produced farther back in the mouth and with the mouth somewhat more open than when we say E, and not so far back as when we say A (ah); and with the mouth less open. As contrasted with the A (ah), it is a thin, flat, and slightly unsatisfactory and disagreeable sound, analogically related to the natural semitone _fa_ of the Diatonic Scale of Musical Tones. This Sound signifies accordingly, THINNESS, ATTENUATED MATTER, the Ghost or Spirit of Nature, related to Odic Force, Magnetisms, Electricity, etc.; still not, however, Spirit in the sense of Mind, or in the Religio-Spiritual sense of the word. This is the exceptional or bastard Vowel-Sound which has but an imperfect or half claim to be inserted in the Leading Vowel Scale. When inserted, its natural position is between the E and the A (ah), although for certain reasons it sometimes changes position with the A (ah), following instead of preceding it. The next two Vowel-Sounds, _o_ (_aw_ in _aw_ful), and _u_ (_u_ in c_u_rd), are somewhat like the _a_ (_a_ in m_a_re), exceptional or bastard Sounds. They are unheard in many Languages, and unrecognized as distinct sounds in many Languages where they are, in fact, heard. Very few Languages have distinct Letter-Signs for them. In using the Roman Alphabet, I am compelled to adopt a contrivance to represent them; which is, as in the case of the _a_, to print them in italic types, for which, when the remainder of the word is in italic, small capitals are substituted, thus: _O_ful (awful); _U_rgent; or, in case the whole word is intended to be italicized, for the sake of emphasis, O_ful_, U_rgent_. In script or handwriting, the italic Letter is marked by underscoring a single line, and the small capital by underscoring two lines.