Four distinct subjects are treated in this chart, but the horizontal bars are arranged in such manner that the reader is likely to think there is only one subject. Probably most readers would prefer to turn the chart so that it may be read from the left-hand edge as four separate curves. To a trained reader this information would be much more clear if put in the form of curves like those seen in Figs. 224, 225, 226, 227

Fig. 221 also shows several different subjects which should be compared, but for which comparison is not very feasible on the chart as given. In Fig. 220 the four different subjects were so widely separated that comparisons were almost impossible, while in Fig. 221 the four different subjects have the bars so arranged that it is difficult for the eye to follow any one subject through the maze of bars.

In Fig. 222 the method of presentation is somewhat similar to that used in Fig. 221. As seen in Fig. 222, however, the bars are

CORPORATION FINANCIAL REPORTS

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arranged horizontally Avith the earlier year at the bottom, while in Fig. 221 the bars are arranged vertically with the earlier year at the right. In both of these charts the arrangement for successive years is incorrect, for the charts give the impression that all quantities portrayed are becoming less instead of greater as years go on. The indiscriminate mixture of so many different kinds of bars in one chart makes a complex diagram to interpret, and it is probable that the chart would at least be no more difficult to apprehend if made entirely in the form of curves instead of bars. Though it is true that curves are not understood by some people who can readily grasp the bar method of presentation, there is no use in keeping to the bar method if the bar presentation is made as complex as a chart involving curves.