CLXXVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [eth. an.x. 20 



The rt!})etiti<iii of a jiulgineut is sonietiines a valid coidiriua- 

 tion, but it is often the 1:)ul\vark of fa 11a c v. .Tudgiueuts niauv 

 times repeated becomes habitual, aud hal)itual errors are liard 

 to eradicate, for theA' are venernl»le. Errors associate in com- 

 munities; as they dwell in the mind the}' constitute a fraternity 

 for nuitual protection. Assail one notion with the club of 

 incongruity and a host of notions arise in its defense. Perhaps 

 this will fully explain the fact, which we are to consider, that 

 men invent arguments to sustain myths. He who contemplates 

 this state of affairs Jna^' readih' fall into despondency, for there 

 seems to be as much mental activity occupied in tlie invention 

 of false reasons as in the discovery of truth: but on further 

 contemplation it is seen that science has un advantage in that 

 its gains are constant and imperishable, wdiile the gains of error 

 overstep tliemselves and sooner or later exliibit new incongrui- 

 ties and hence are self-destructive. 



The appeal to antiquity is tlie appeal to habit, and the 

 apjieal to habit is the appeal to repetition, which nnist always 

 be distinguished from the appeal to verification. The argu- 

 ment from antiquity is a two-edged sword, and may be an 

 instrument of suicide; but it is the first argument used to sup- 

 port a myth. ''It was taught by our foi'efathers " is inscribed 

 on the banner of mythology. But can we not use the argu- 

 ment from experience ? Yes, if we distinguish the method of 

 verification from the method of repetition. This is (tui- only 

 criterion. 



Myths are defended by another argument which must now 

 be set forth. It may be called the argument from intuition. 

 Plants grow from seeds; animals from eggs. The develop- 

 ment of the individual from the germ is called ontogeny. The 

 process of ontogeny has been well recognized from primordial 

 human time. Germs also develop from generation to genera- 

 tion. Tlu- acorn is a very different seed from that of the 

 plant from which oaks were developed. The egg of the bird 

 is a verv different g-erm from the esu' from which it was 

 de%'eloped through successive generations. This development 

 of germs is also called tlie development of species. The 

 process is now well known to science, but it was long unrec- 



