WHAT IS A GENERAL TKUTII. 69 



the warm-bloodedncss of birds. What we here call, 

 and rightly call, a general truth, is simply a pro 

 position which stims up a number of our actual expe 

 riences J and not the expression of a truth drawn 

 from our actual experiences, but never presented to 

 us in any of them. In other words, a general truth 

 colligates a number of particular truths ; while an 

 abstract truth colligates no particular truths, but 

 formulates a truth which certain phenomena all in 

 volve, though it is actually seen in none of them. 



Limiting the words to their proper meanings as 

 thus defined, it becomes manifest that the three classes 

 of Sciences above separated, aro not distinguishable 

 at all by differences in their degrees of generality. 

 They are all equally general ; or rather they are 

 all,&quot; considered as groups, universal. Every object 

 whatever presents at once the subject-matter for each 

 of them. In the smallest particle of substance we 

 have simultaneously illustrated the abstract truths 

 of relation in Time and Space ; the abstract-concrete 

 truths in conformity with which the particle mani 

 fests its several modes of force j and the concrete 

 truths which are the laws ot the joint manifestation 

 of these modes of force. Thus these three classes of 

 Sciences severally formulate different, but co-extensive, 

 classes of facts. Within each group there are truths of 

 greater and less generality : there are general abstract 

 truths, and special abstract truths ; general abstract- 

 concrete truths, and special abstract-concrete truths 



