The relative importance of vowels in reading versus the relative importance of consonants was investigated by comparing the scores on the oral reading of a passage from which all vowels had been removed with the scores on the oral reading of the same passage from which all consonants had been removed. Scores for reading the passage with whole words were also recorded. Subjects were 128 Boston elementary summer school pupils and a small group of adults. It was found that the passage without the vowels was much easier to read than the passage without the consonants. A review of related studies and a discussion of implications for phonics teaching systems in beginning reading and for alphabet reform are given. Tables and references are included. (Author/CM)