basically, the unit of measurement used in typography is known as em. This unit defines the proportion of the letters width and height with respect to the point size of the current font. However, another unit of measurement called en is also used in typography. This is half the width of an em. So in theory one em in a 16 point typeface is 16 points, making the en 8 points. With an em quad being hard to distinguish from an en quad, printers sometimes called it a mutton quad.
An "em-quad" is a metal spacer used in printing presses. It is referred to by this name because it is composed of a square one em on each side. In these old-fashioned printing presses, this allowed the insertion of an em space ( ) character between other typographical characters. It is also occasionally referred to as a "mutton quad".
Here is some 30 pt. Gill Sans metal type. All of the lower case letters are present, plus number and punctuation.
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