OF ARTS AND SCIENCES : DECEMBER 6, 1864. 373 



made in the protasis may be a possible one or not, according to the 

 circumstances. Thus the suppositions made in the three examples 

 above quoted, aUliough they are contrary to fact, are still perfectly pos- 

 sible suppositions ; while, on the other hand, we use the same construc- 

 tion to express el ra 8a}8eKa Sly nevre ^v, if twelve Were twice Jive, which 

 we cannot even imagine to be true. 



It will be remembered that the two tenses of the Greek subjunctive 

 and optative which are most frequently employed in conditional sen- 

 tences, the present and the aorist, differ here only by the present ex- 

 pressing a continued or repeated action, and the aorist expressing a 

 momentary or single action ; the perfect denoting the completion of an 

 action at the time at which the present or aorist would denote simply 

 its occurrence. This distinction between the present and aorist is 

 wanting in Latin, the present subjunctive there performing the duties 

 of both present and aorist in Greek. In particular suppositions, the 

 Latin present subjunctive corresponds to the Greek present and aorist 

 optative, and occasionally to the present and aorist subjunctive ; the 

 perfect (when it occurs) corresponding in general to the perfect optative 

 or subjunctive. In general suppositions, the Latin present subjunctive 

 corresponds to the Greek present and aorist subjunctive, and the Latin 

 imperfect subjunctive to the Greek present and aorist optative.* Fur- 

 ther, in the forms of protasis which imply the non-fulfilment of the con- 

 dition, the Latin imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive correspond to the 

 Greek imperfect and aorist (rarely pluperfect) indicative. 



In practice it will be found most convenient to divide conditional 

 sentences into those with particular suppositions and those with gen- 

 eral suppositions, and then to subdivide the former into those express- 

 ing present or past conditions and those expressing future conditions. 

 The following table will give a general view of the whole. 



I. PARTICULAR SUPPOSITIONS. 



A. Present and Past Conditions. 



1. Simple supposition, implying notJdng as to fulfilment of condi- 

 tion : — 



Present and past tenses of the indicative in protasis ; any tense of 



* For the relations of the Greek optative to the subjunctive, and a comparison 

 of both with the Latin subjunctive, see Proceedings, "Vol. V. pp. 96 - 102. 

 VOL. VI. 40 



