of Edinburgh, Session 1880-81. 
301 
expressed in the famous aphorism of Schlozer, one of the earliest 
writers on the subject-*- 44 Statistics is history in repose, history is 
statistics in movement.” Applied to sociology, it practically agrees 
too, with the division of the subject into social statics and social 
dynamics established by Comte. 
§ 7. The field of history might at first sight seem co-extensive with 
that of statistics, and both might seem to extend to all the sciences ; 
but since logic involves no idea of quantity, and since mathematical, 
physical, and chemical conditions and properties are constant, the 
scope of statistics and history becomes restrained, as shown in the 
following diagram : — 
Historical 
Sciences 
- Statistical 
' Ethics. 
Sociology. 
Psychology. 
Biology. 
Geology. 
^ Astronomy. 
Chemistry. 
Physics. 
Mathematics. 
Logic. 
It is thus clear that statistics and history are, within the above 
limits, the common property of the sciences, and that the current use 
of these words, which restricts them to social phenomena, is simply 
one of colloquial convenience, while their use in the sense of distinct 
sciences or of distinct scientific methods is entirely erroneous.* 
§ 8. Statistics being thus defined, the need for collection and classi- 
* The preceding general conceptions may be traced into interesting detail. 
The application of the above diagrammatic definition of statistics to all the 
sciences clearly illustrates the continual progress which goes on in each from 
mere qualitative to quantitative knowledge, and the increase of definiteness 
which qualitative knowledge is always tending to assume. For instance, the 
name of a chemical compound, say sulphate of iron, expresses only a quali- 
tative relation, its ordinary chemical formula FeS0 4 reaches the numerical 
state, its graphic and glyptic formulae are respectively the plane and solid 
representation of the same statistic, as we may conveniently term any such 
relation of quantity. So, too, the astronomer has his star-maps and orrery, 
the geologist his maps and models, the biologist his figures and diagrams, 
while the sociologist so often requires similar aid that the French Government 
has recently established a Bureau de Statistique graphique. So by piling up 
successive graphic representations of statistical observations, a solid historical 
