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56. In certain sixteenth-century Portuguese manuscripts on navigation one finds the small letter b used for 5, and the capital letter R for 40. Thus, xbiij stands for 18, Ri ij for 43.^[1]

Fig. 15.—Degenerate forms of Roman numerals in English archives (Common Pleas, Plea Rolls, 637, 701, and 817; also Recovery Roll 1). (Reduced.)

A curious development found in the archives of one or two English courts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries^[2] was a special Roman

1. J. I. de Brito Rebello, Livro de Marinharia (Lisboa, 1903), p. 37, 85–91, 193, 194.
2. Antiquaries Journal (London, 1926), Vol. VI, p. 273, 274.