THE PROCESS OF SCIENTIFIC REASONING. 333 



admit its equivalent and what flows from it. If we agree 

 to a principle, we must allow all the facts it includes, and 

 abide by all its logical consequences. If we say certain 

 phenomena are facts, we must allow the general statement 

 which expresses them. In short, we are bound to admit 

 in one form of words, any idea which we have admitted in 

 another. Dogma, opinion, hypothesis, and theory must 

 not only yield to experiment and observation, but to all 

 that they include. 



The discovery of new truths by means of pure intellect, 

 consists not only in drawing inferences, but also in select- 

 ing, arranging, and combining the ideas contained in the 

 knowledge which we already possess, so as to be able to 

 render evident, by means of inference, the truths contained 

 in it. Before we can draw a conclusion, we must always 

 arrange the ideas in the form of a definite statement or 

 proposition. We first arrange the ideas in the proper 

 order to form a true statement, and then by the process 

 of inference, we obtain another true statement, which is 

 equivalent to either the whole or part of a first one. 



The process of reasoning in original scientific research 

 may be divided into two portions, viz. 1st, the analysis of 

 the ideas (or evidence) contained in the proposition ; and, 

 2nd, the drawing of conclusions. To perform the process 

 it is necessary that the ideas be transformable and equiva- 

 lent. The analysis of the evidence consists in substitu- 

 ting (partly by means of immediate inference) terms and 

 phrases of different meanings from the original ones, but 

 included in them. It also requires considerable knowledge 

 and skill, in order to be able to perceive the true meaning 

 of the words, and of each part of the proposition ; and 

 also to be able to transpose the terms of the premises 

 without introducing into the conclusion any idea which is 

 not implicitly contained in the original statement. 



