35 



Furthermore, I pointed out how people are apt to 

 be deceived by words that are only used for collo- 

 quial convenience, such as " disease/' " cholera," 

 " enteritis," " Rinderpest," &c. ; that the habit of 

 using- these and other terms lead many who do not 

 think immoderately to suppose they have positive 

 meaning's ; that different (so called) diseases, instead 

 of meaning 1 only different organs out of order in 

 different ways and places, mean so many different 

 entities ; that, for instance, " enteritis" means an 

 actual something*, when in fact it is not a something', 

 but only an inflamed condition of a something-, that 

 is to say, of the duodenum, whatever the duodenum 

 may be, for I have not the least notion. Of course 

 this is plain enough when pointed out, but still people 

 generally do not seem to regard it in this light. 

 Probably all these names have had for their origin 

 the endeavour to hide ignorance, and this would 

 account for our giving them in these cases, but not 

 to the different internal disorders of a watch or a 

 steam-engine, for these latter we can take to pieces, 

 understand, mend and put together again ; but if we 

 could not do so, and a watch went badly, I have no 

 doubt whatever that we should say, it had got that 

 terrible disease, ic horologiumpest." This would at 

 once satisfy us like children when told the mere name 

 of a thing, and prevent our having to say we do not 

 understand what is wrong ; and at the same time it 

 would (a thing the human mind craves) set our ima- 

 ginations, our credulity, and superstitions free to 



