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bably derived the Phoenician alphabet, the parent of almost all the principal graphic systems of the world. The Egyptians never entirely accomplished the separation of ideograms and phonetic symbols, but the Phoenicians adopted only the latter, and thus originated the first purely alphabetic system of writing. M. François Lenormant distinguishes five main branches of the Phoenician alphabet, viz.: 1, the Semitic, which subdivides into two groups, the Hebrew-Samaritan and the Aramæan, the latter including Palmyrene, Pamphylian, the square Hebrew characters, Estranghelo and the other Syrian alphabets, the Sabaan or Men. daitic, the Auranitic, the Na....Kh bathæan, and the Arabic, including the Cufic and neskhi or copyhand; 2, the central or Greek, comprising the various Hellenic alphabets and their derivatives, the latter subdividing into the Albanian, Asiatic (Asia Minor), and the Italian; 3, the western, including but a single family, comprising the systems of writing which grew out of the spread of the Phonician alphabet in Spain; 4, the northern or Runic (see RUNES); 5, the Indo-Homerite (Himyarite), which seems to have had its origin in southern Arabia, and to have spread thence to Africa, Ariana, and India, the Indian branch giving rise to the ancient Mâgadhi alphabet, the supposed parent of the Dêvanâgarî or written Sanskrit, the Pâlî, and many others. The first or Semitic branch has been treated under SEMITIC RACE AND LANGUAGES, and ARABIC LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. Of the central branch, the Italian subdivision is the parent of the Lombardic, Visigothic, AngloSaxon, Gallic, Merovingian, and German graphic styles, all of which were in use before Charlemagne, and of those which followed him, including the Caroline, the Capetian, and the modern Gothic. The Roman letters were used in Italy until the latter part of the 6th century, when the Lombardic style was introduced. This was also sometimes called Roman, because used by the popes in their bulls; it continued in use until the 13th century. The Visigothic style, carried into Spain by the Visigoths, was legally abolished in 1091, and Latin letters were adopted for all

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public instruments. In France the Merovingian style prevailed from the close of the 6th century to the end of the 8th. Charlemagne introduced the Caroline, which, having degenerated before the close of the 10th century, was restored by Hugh Capet, and was subsequently called the Capetian. It was in use in England, France, and Germany till the middle of the 12th century, when the modern Gothic spread over all Europe. The present German alphabet is a modification of this. There are no traces of writing in Britain before the Roman conquest, when Latin letters were introduced. What is called the Roman-Saxon, resembling the Roman, prevailed until the middle of the 8th century; the set Saxon succeeded it, lasting until the middle of the 9th ;. this was followed by the running-hand Saxon of the time of Alfred; the mixed Saxon, combining the Roman, Lombardic, and Saxon letters; and the elegant Saxon, which was introduced in the 10th century, and did not become obsolete until the middle of the 12th. The charters which remain in this style are remarkable for their small, round, neat, and extremely legible characters. The Norman style, quaint, affected, illegible, and composed of letters nearly Lombardic, came in with William the Conqueror. The modern Gothic dates in England from the 12th century; the old English from the middle of the 14th; the set chancery and common chancery from the latter part of the same century. The English court hand, a barbarous corruption of the Norman, was contrived by the lawyers in the 16th century, and lasted till the reign of George II., when it was abolished by law. In the northern parts of Ireland and Scotland characters similar to the Saxon prevailed until the end of the 16th century. The Russian alphabet is a modified form of that invented by the missionary Cyril for the use of the Slavic tribes of Bulgaria and Moravia,. among whom he preached the gospel in the 9th century. It is founded upon the Greek alphabet, but that not being sufficient to express all the Slavic sounds, he added to it numerous symbols. It was modified by Peter the Great, who reduced the number to 36 characters. (See GLAGOLITIC, and RUSSIA, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF.) The Wallachs adopted the Cyrillic alphabet in the 15th century, but further diminished it to 27 symbols; and since 1856 the Latin alphabet has mostly supplanted it. For the Mexican picture writing and the Central American hieroglyphs, see HIEROGLYPHICS. The Japanese graphic system, which is a modification of the Chinese, is treated under JAPAN, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF.-The utmost diversity exists among different nations in the manner or direction of writing; but in general the Semitic races wrote from right to left, and the Aryan from left to right. The Egyptian hieroglyphs are sometimes without any arrangement, but are generally written either in columns or horizontal lines, according to the shape of the surface to

-See Toussaint and Tassin, Nouveau traité de diplomatique (6 vols. 4to, Paris, 1750-'65); T. Astle, "Origin and Progress of Writing" (London, 1784; new eds., 1803 and 1876); Jules Oppert, Remarques sur les caractères distinctifs des différentes familles linguistiques (8vo, Paris, 1860); Léon de Rosny, Les écritures figuratives des différents peuples anciens et modernes (Paris, 1860); H. Wuttke, Geschichte der Schrift (Berlin, 1872 et seq.); François Lenormant, Essai sur la propagation de l'alphabet phénicien dans l'ancien monde (new ed., Paris, 1875); and other authorities quoted in the article MANUSCRIPT.

WROTTESLEY, John, baron, an English astronomer, born at Wrottesley, Staffordshire, Aug. 5, 1798, died there, Oct. 27, 1867. He graduated at Oxford in 1819, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1823. He built observatories at Blackheath and Wrottesley, and in 1838 presented to the royal astronomical society a catalogue of the right ascensions of 1,318 stars, for which he received the gold medal of the society. He was chosen president of that society in 1841, and of the royal society in 1854. He succeeded his father in the peerage in 1841. He published "Thoughts on Government and Legislation" (London, 1859).

WROXETER, a village of Shropshire, England, on the Severn, 6 m. S. E. of Shrewsbury; pop. in 1871, 529. It is celebrated as the site of a Roman city, the Uriconium of Antoninus and the Viriconium of Ptolemy. The remains show that the city wall was 3 m. in circumference. In 1752 several Roman inscriptions, urns, and silver coins of Vespasian and later emperors were discovered. Since 1859 a systematic excavation has unearthed buildings, pottery, coins, ornaments, and other relics, and skeletons have been found in the hypocausts, showing that when the city was sacked and burned by the Saxons some of the inhabitants took refuge there. (See WRIGHT, THOMAS.)

WRYNECK (yunx torquilla, Linn.), a small bird of the woodpecker family, so called from its habit of turning the head in various directions; it has also been named snake bird for the same reason. It is about 7 in. long, of a rusty ash color, irregularly spotted and speckled with brown and black; the colors are prettily distributed, and the form is elegant. The bill is short, straight, and acute; the tongue extensile, ending in a simple horny tip; wings pointed, the first quill very short, and the third

Wryneck (Yunx torquilla).

the warm parts of W. Asia; it arrives in April and leaves early in September, so nearly at the same time with the cuckoo that it has been called the cuckoo's mate. Though having many of the habits of woodpeckers, it does not associate with them; the food consists principally of insects, and sometimes berries; it generally feeds on the ground; the eggs are 6 to 10, white, and laid in holes dug in trees.

WRYNECK (torticollis), a surgical disease, dependent generally on contraction of the muscles, in which the head and neck are turned sideways, forward, or backward, according to the muscles affected. In rare instances it may arise from disease or displacement of the cervical vertebræ, and may then be congenital; the distortion may be produced by the contraction of cicatrices after burns, and by tumors. The disease is almost always muscular in its seat; an uncommon form arises from paralysis of the muscles of the opposite side, which may be temporarily corrected without pain to the individual, and should be treated by electricity and the usual remedies employed for paralysis; it may also be rheumatismal, pain being increased or excited by motion, and that position being assumed in which the greatest ease is obtained. It is generally of short duration, and is to be treated like other muscular rheumatism. It is sometimes inflammatory or neuralgic; the former is occasionally noticed in weak children, and the latter in adults after tic douloureux; both are to be treated by rest, leeches, fomentations, and narcotic applications. The most usual form is the chronic wryneck caused by contraction of the sterno-mastoid muscles, in which the head is bent to one side (generally the right), and the face to the opposite, the right eyebrow and right corner of the mouth being elevated; the whole neck is distorted on the first dorsal vertebra in the direction opposite to that of the head and neck, requiring mechanical after the surgical treatment. Formerly this deformity was treated by tonics, various internal and external remedies (such as stimulating ointments and liniments), and mechanical contrivances; but, since Guérin (in 1838) first drew special attention to the subject, tenotomy or subcutaneous division of the ten