CONDORCET. 891 



cette application eut pu etre faite d'apres des donnees reelles, mais la 

 difficulte de se procurer ces donnees, difficultes qu'un particulier ne 

 pouvoit esperer de vaincre, a force de se contenter d'appliquer les prin- 

 cipes de la theorie a de simples liyjootlieses, afin de montrer du moins 

 la marclie que pourroient suivre pour cette application reelle ceux a qui 

 on auroit j)rocure les donnees qui doivent en etre la base. 



But it would be rather more correct to describe this part as 

 furnishing some additions to the preceding investigations than as 

 giving examples of them. 



Four so-called examples are discussed. 



717. In the first example Condorcet proposes what he thinks 

 would be a good form of tribunal for the trial of civil cases. He 

 suggests a court of 25 judges, to decide by majority. He adds, 

 however, this condition ; suppose the case tried is the right to a 

 certain property, then if the majority is less than 3 the court 

 should award compensation to the claimant against whom de- 

 cision is given. 



718. In the second example Condorcet proposes what he 

 thinks would be a good form of tribunal for the trial of criminal 

 cases. He suggests a court of 80 judges, in which a majority of at 

 least 8 is to be required to condemn an accused person. 



719. The third example relates to the mode of electing from 

 a number of candidates to an ofiice. This example is really a 

 supplement to the investigation given in the first part of the Essay. 

 Condorcet refers to the memoir on the subject by a celebrated 

 geometer, and records his own dissent from that geometer's sug- 

 gestions ; the geometer alluded to is Borda. See Art. 690. 



720. The fourth example relates to the probability of the 

 accuracy of the decision of a large assembly in which the voters 

 are not all alike. Condorcet considers the case in which the num- 

 ber of voters whose probability of accuracy is x, is proportional to 



\—x\ and he supposes that cc lies between ^ and 1. In such a 



case the mean probability is 



