s. 267. "I cannot trace the influence of the Moeso-Gothic alphabet, except, perhaps, in the case of the Anglo-Saxon letters _th_ and _[wynn]_, upon any other alphabet; _nor does it seem to have been itself acted upon by any earlier Gothic alphabet_." (See p. 205.) The reason for the remark in Italics was as follows: In the Icelandic language the word _run_ signifies a _letter_, and the word _runa_ a _furrow_, or _line_. It has also some secondary meanings, which it is unnecessary to give in detail. Upon a vast number of inscriptions, some upon rocks, some upon stones of a defined shape, we find an alphabet different (at least, apparently so) from that of the Greeks, Latins, and Hebrews, and also unlike that of any modern nation. In this alphabet there is a marked deficiency of curved or rounded lines, and an exclusive preponderance of straight ones. As it was engraved rather than written, this is what we naturally expect. These letters are called Runes, and the alphabet which they constitute is called the Runic alphabet. Sometimes, by an extension of meaning, the Old Norse language, wherein they most frequently occur, is called the Runic language. This is as incorrect as to call a language an alphabetic language. To say, however, the Runic stage of a language is neither inaccurate nor inconvenient. The Runic alphabet, whether borrowed or invented by the early Goths, is of greater antiquity {210} than either the oldest Teutonic or the Moeso-Gothic alphabets. The forms, names, and order of the letters may be seen in Hickes' Thesaurus, in Olai Wormii Literatura Runica, in Rask's Icelandic Grammar, and in W. Grimm's Deutsche Runer. The original number of the Runic letters is sixteen; expressing the sounds of _f_, _u_, _th_, _o_, _r_, _k_, _h_, _n_, _a_, _i_, _s_, _t_, _b_, _l_, _m_, _y_. To these are added four spurious Runes, denoting _c_, _x_, _ae_, _oe_, and eight pointed Runes after the fashion of the pointed letters in Hebrew. In all this we see the influence of the imported alphabet upon the original Runes, rather than that of the original Runes upon the imported alphabet. It should, however, be remarked, that in the Runic alphabet the sound of _th_ in _thin_ is expressed by a simple sign, and that by a sign not unlike the Anglo-Saxon th.