412 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



the light of criticism is the sign of a progressive science, and 

 Logic will undoubtedly benefit by being brought more into 

 touch with practical life — that is, in being shaped with a view 

 to its application to the concrete arguments of science and every- 

 day life. In this respect much of the criticism urged by 

 Mr. Alfred Sidgwick in his logical works, and more especially 

 in his Application of Logic, is extremely useful in developing the 

 Science of Logic. Had Dr. Mercier confined himself to such 

 criticism he would no doubt have done something to aid in this 

 development. Unfortunately, however, Logic, as distinguished 

 from his own logic, is regarded by him merely as an inex- 

 haustible field for the exercise of his facetiousness. But an 

 excessive sense of humour, no less than the complete lack of it, 

 is apt to destroy one's sense of proportion. 



