936 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 859 



latter case is so great that we never find all of 

 them, and rarely find many of them in agree- 

 ment, as to the indiscernibility of any dif- 

 ference. But specimens 571 and 220 below are, 

 in merit as defined by, say, 100 competent per- 

 sons, approximately equal, since if asked to 

 report 571 as better, equal to, or worse than 

 220, there will be a large proportion of equals 

 and the judgments " better " will approxi- 

 mately equal the judgments " worse." Of 110 

 competent persons, forced to make a distinc- 

 tion, 54 favored sample 571 and 56 sample 220. 



571. VENUS OP MELOS 



In looking at this statue we think, not of wis- 

 dom, or power, or force, but just of beauty. She 

 stands resting the weight of her body on one foot, 

 and advancing the other (left) with knee bent. 

 The posture causes the jSgure to sway slightly to 

 one side, describing a fine curved line. The lower 

 limbs are draped but the upper part of the body 

 is uncovered. (The unfortunate loss of the stat- 

 ue's arms prevents a positive knowledge of its 

 original attitude.) The eyes are partly closed, 

 having something of a dreamy langour. The nose 

 is perfectly cut, the mouth and chin are moulded 

 in adorable curves. Yet to say that every feature 

 is of faultless perfection is but cold praise. No 

 analysis can convey the sense of her peerless 

 beauty. 



220. GOING DOWN WITH VICTOET 



I sat on the top of a mail-coach in Lombard 

 street impatiently awaiting the start. 'Twas the 

 the night of the victory and we would help spread 

 the news over England. 



Up jumps the coachman followed by the guard, 

 an instant's preparation, a touch of the lash and 

 we are off! We are soon past the limits of the 

 city out in open country, galloping, tearing along, 

 a clear road ahead of us for the English Mail 

 stops for nothing. 



We dash in at villages, stopping but a moment 

 with the mail, shouting the news of the victory 

 and we are off again. Proud were we and had 

 we not a right to be? The first to carry the great 

 news through the land! 



The memory of that ride is ever fresh in my 

 mind and I will ever remember those hours as 

 the most glorious in all my life. 



The difFerence between 1 inch and 2 inches 

 is said to be equal to the difference between 2 



inches and 3 inches, because the experts will, 

 as before, all agree or divide equally in their 

 disagreement. The essential logic of their 

 procedure will appear if we change the illus- 

 tration. 



Let their task be to examine the following 

 pairs of lengths: I. (a) 10.0000 inches, (b) 

 10.0001 inches, II. (c) 10.0001 and {d) 10.0002, 

 in. (e) 10.0001 and (/) 10.0003, IV. {g). 

 10.0001 and {h) 10.0004, V. (i) 10.0001 and 

 (/) 10.0005, and to judge in each case whether 

 the second line of the pair is shorter, equal, or 

 longer. We shall find that even the experts 

 make some wrong judg-ments with these very 

 small differences, but that the proportion of 

 right judgments increases as the difference 

 increases, so that we can conclude that the 

 difference between (a) and (&) is equal to the 

 difference between (c) and {d), not because it 

 is always judged so, but because it is equally 

 often judged so, by experts. The basis for the 

 scientific acceptance of a difference may then 

 be that judgments of longer are more fre- 

 quent than judgments of shorter. And the 

 basis for the scientific acceptance of one dif- 

 ference as equal to another difference may be 

 that the preponderance of judgments of longer 

 is equal in the two cases. This is not the 

 whole truth of the matter in the case of the 

 equality of such differences as 1.0001 in.- 

 1.000 in. and 1.0002 in.-l.OOOl in.; but it is a 

 part of it. 



This part of it may be made true of judg- 

 ments of differences in merit in English writ- 

 ing. For instance Specimen 627 is judged to 

 have more merit as writing by young people 

 in their teens than specimen 570 by 83 out of 

 110 competent persons. Specimen 570 is also 

 judged to have more merit, similarly defined, 

 than Specimen 603 by 82 out of the same 110 

 competent persons. The difference between 

 Specimens 627 and 570 is then approximately 

 equal to the difference between Specimens 

 570 and 603. 



627. A SCENE 



I think the sunlight is very beautiful on the 

 water, and when it shines on the water it is very 

 beautiful, and I love to watch it when it is so 

 beautiful. The colors are so pretty and the noise 



