630 RELATION OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLES TO ENVIRONMENT. 



qualities of wisdom, and properties of judgment develop into qualities 

 of speech. There are five kinds of qualities in the world — qualities of 

 pleasure, qualities of welfare, qualities of conduct, qualities of opinion, 

 qualities of language; and this fact expresses the sum total of human 

 activities. 



The relations of properties are numbers developed by relations into 

 kinds, or extensions developed by relations into forms, or motions 

 developed by relations into forces, or durations developed by relations 

 into times, or judgments developed by relations into ideas. Then, all of 

 these properties are still further developed into qualities by their espe- 

 cial relations to human purposes ; these qualities are arts, industries, 

 institutions, opinions, and languages. It may be useful for us to illus- 

 trate and enforce the distinction between properties and qualities. 

 Here is a mussel shell from the Ohio Biver. On the inside you see it 

 has a beautiful nacre; hence it has color, which is a property, and it has 

 beauty, which is a quality. The Indians once used these shells, cutting 

 them into beads, and for this purpose they are beautiful; beauty is a 

 quality. You see also that it has a form which is derived from its plan 

 of extension, and it forms a cup. This form is a property; but the same 

 Indians who used the shells for beads also used them for cups; as a cup 

 it becomes useful, and usefulness is a quality. They also used this 

 same shell as a knife or as a scraper, for it has a sharp edge, and can 

 be used as a tool with which to cut or scrape, the force being derived 

 from motion. Thus it has force in weight, strength, etc., which are 

 properties. Again, it is advantageous to use the shell or scraper 

 rather than many other things; for example, rather than a round stone 

 or rather than a piece of wood. Thus advantage is a quality. But 

 this same shell has duration; it will last long if buried in water or 

 earth; it will last longer if it is kept in a dry place. This duration is 

 a property, but if it is used as a knife for a purpose it will wear away 

 more slowly than a stick or many other things that might be used as a 

 knife or scraper ; its endurance is a quality. 



We have taken natural and inanimate objects for illustration, and 

 found the four properties and four qualities; let us now take an arti- 

 ficial but inanimate object and see what we will find. Here is a pocket- 

 knife; the handle is white, the blades are steel color; these are proper- 

 ties; but it is a beautiful knife by reason of its pure white handle and 

 its rustless blades; it is therefore beautiful, which is a quality. It has 

 a form as a knife, and its blades are sharp because of their form. The 

 form in the handle and the blades is a property, but the handle is use- 

 ful and so wrought that it can be easily grasped and the blades are so 

 sharp that they will cut. Here the handle and the blades become use- 

 ful, which is a quality. It is a good knife for the purpose for which it 

 is intended, as a pocketknife, but it would be a bad knife for the sur- 

 geon ; in the form of a scalpel it would be good for his purpose. The 

 knife is a good instrument for cutting a small bough, a bad instrument 



