124 THE SCIENCE OF LOGIC. 



the objects themselves as if these were given to us, or disposed by us, in dis 

 tinct groups, separated in time or in space in the real world ; and that all 

 classification is, or ought to be, natural, in the sense of conforming to the facts 

 and suiting the special purpose in hand. However, notwithstanding the 

 force of these reasons, it is impossible to deny the propriety of describing 

 (65), for example, the mental scheme that directs the alphabetical arrangement 

 of a library catalogue according to the initial letter of each author s name, as 

 an &quot;artificial&quot; classification of the known contents of the library, and the 

 genealogical schemes of the botanist and zoologist as &quot;natural&quot; classifica 

 tions of known plants and animals. And although, as we shall see from the 

 various examples given below, it is impossible to draw any definite line of de 

 marcation between the two kinds of classification, to say where &quot; nature &quot; 

 begins and &quot;artifice &quot; ends, still we shall be able to point to ample reasons 

 for calling the one kind &quot;natural&quot; and the other &quot;artificial&quot; classifi 

 cation. 



65. CLASSIFICATION FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES.- This is the 

 simplest kind of classification, and its &quot; artificial &quot; character 

 will be apparent from a few characteristic examples. The 

 names of the topics dealt with in a book are, for example, 

 sometimes classified in groups following the order of the alphabet, 

 in an index at the end of the book, with references to the pages 

 on which the treatment of them will be found. The special pur 

 pose there is to facilitate the study of these topics by saving time 

 and trouble in searching for them ; and the alphabetical classifi 

 cation is the best for the purpose. So, also, in the arrange 

 ment of a library catalogue. And the likelihood that a person 

 who consults a book on any topic may, need to consult others 

 on the same topic, at once suggests a new basis for arranging the 

 books on the shelves : that all books on the same topic should 

 be arranged in the same place, side by side on the same shelf or 

 shelves. To arrange the books according to size, or to binding, 

 or to language, would be perhaps considered more artificial than 

 the arrangement according to subjects ; while all alike would be 

 perhaps considered less artificial than the alphabetic arrange 

 ment of the authors names in the library catalogue. 



Again, suppose we are interested in the study of botany 

 and have at hand a copy of Bentham s British Flora. Hearing 

 the name of a strange flower, we go to (#) the alphabetical index 

 at the end of the volume, and are there referred to various places 

 in the body of the book, where we find the name figuring in (b) 

 a system of classifications T quite other than the alphabetical one 



1 This system is experimentally illustrated as far as possible in the arrange 

 ment of the flower-beds and plant-plots in a botanic garden: plants of the same 



