PHILOSOPHY AS AN ORGANON 



acquired, it must be sought in the comparative 

 study of the vegetable and animal kingdoms. 

 Theoretical logic may divide and subdivide as 

 much as it likes ; but genera and species are 

 dull and lifeless things, when contemplated 

 merely in their places upon a logical chart. To 

 become correct reasoners, it is not enough that 

 we should know what classes and sub-classes 

 are ; we should also be able skilfully to make 

 them. I conclude with a citation from Mr. 

 Mill : " Although the scientific arrangements 

 of organic nature afford as yet the only com- 

 plete example of the true principles of rational 

 classification, whether as to the formation of 

 groups or of series, those principles are appli- 

 cable to all cases in which mankind are called 

 upon to bring the various parts of a,ny exten- 

 sive subject into mental coordination. They 

 are as much to the point when objects are to 

 be classed for purposes of art or business, as 

 for those of science. The proper arrangement, 

 for example, of a code of laws depends on the 

 same scientific conditions as the classifications 

 in natural history ; nor could there be a better 

 preparatory discipline for that important func- 

 tion than the study of the principles of a natu- 

 ral arrangement, not only in the abstract, but 

 in their actual application to the class of phe- 

 nomena for which they were first elaborated, 

 and which are still the best school for learning 

 87 



