hypothecation 
ring possession, with evidences of title, to his 
creditor. In this use the term always implies creation 
by contract, and that the securities hypothecated are put 
or supposed to be put beyond the control of the debtor 
until payment of his debt. 
I would give 
My laurels, living and to live, 
Or as much cash as you could raise on 
Their value by hypothecation. 
Halleek, The Recorder. 
4. Iii modern commercial usage, the mortgage 
of a vessel or her cargo, as in the phrase hypothe- 
cation bond, a bottomry bond or respoudentia 
bond. See bottomry and respoudentia. 
hypothecator (hl-poth'e-ka-tqr), n. [< hypoth- 
ecate + -or.'] One who pledges anything as 
security. 
hypothecatory (hl-poth'e-ka-to-ri), a. [< 7i//- 
jiothecate + -ory.~\ Same as hypothecary. 
hypothecial (hl-po-the'si-al), a. [< hypothecium 
T -/.] Pertaining to the hypothecium. 
hypothecium (hi-po-the'si-um), n. [NL., <Gr. 
VJTO, under, + (MjKri, a case : see theca.] In but., 
the layer, usually dense, of hyphal tissue im- 
mediately beneath the hymenium. 
hypothek, n. See hypothec. 
hypothenar (h!-poth'e-nar), . and a. [NL., < 
Gr. vvoKvap, the part of the palm next the fin- 
fers,< i>ir6, under, + tievap, the palm of the hand.] 
. n. In (mat. and zool., the fleshy prominence 
upon the outer side of the palm of the hand 
at the base of the little finger. See thenar. 
Also called hypothenar eminence. 
II. a. Pertaining to or situated upon the 
hypothenar. Hypothenar muscles, those muscles 
which collectively act upon the metacarpal bone and the 
base of the tost phalanx of the little finger. 
hypothenusal, hypothenuse. See hypotenmal, 
hypotenuse. 
hypothesis (hi-poth'e-sis), n. ; pi. hypotheses 
(-sez). [= D. G. Dan. hyi>otltese = Sw. hypotes 
= F. hypothese = Sp. hipotesis = Pg. hypothese 
= It. ipotesi, < Gr. rx66?oi<;, a groundwork, foun- 
dation, base, supposition, lit. a placing under, 
that which is placed under, < imonffivai, place 
under, < imo, under, + rideuat, place, put, > 6e ov? , a 
putting: see thesis. Cf. hypothec.] 1. A condi- 
tion; that from which something follows: as, 
freedom is the hypothesis of democracy. [Kare- 
ly used in English.] 2. A proposition as- 
sumed and taken for granted, to be used as a 
premise in proving something else ; a postulate. 
Sooner than abandon his theory, there is no extrava- 
gance of hypothesis to which the superstitious man will 
not resort. Lecky, Europ. Morals, I. 385. 
When some hypothesis, absurd and vain, 
Has tilled with all its fumes a critic's brain. 
Cowper, Prog, of Err., 1. 444. 
3. A supposition ; a judgment concerning an 
imaginary state of things, or the imaginary state 
of things itself concerning whose consequences 
some statement is made or question is asked ; 
the antecedent of a conditional proposition : the 
proposition disproved byreductio ad absurdum. 
The angles BGH, 6HD are equal to two right angles hy 
hypothesis. Playfair'-s Euclid, I. 28. 
4. The conclusion of an argument from conse- 
quent and antecedent ; a proposition held to be 
probably true because its consequences, accord- 
ing to known general principles, are found to 
be true ; the supposition that an object has a 
certain character, from which it would necessa- 
rily follow that it must possess other charac- 
ters which it is observed to possess. The word 
has always been applied in this sense to theories of the 
planetary system. Kepler held the hypothesis that Mars 
moves in an elliptical orbit with the sun in one focus, de- 
scribing equal areas in equal times, the ellipse having a 
certain size, shape, and situation, and the perihelion be- 
ing reached at a certain epoch. Of the three coordinates 
of the planet's position, two, determining its apparent po- 
sition, were directly observed, but the third, its varying 
distance from the earth, was the subject of hypothesis. 
The hypothesis of Kepler was adopted because it made the 
apparent places just what they were observed to be. A 
hypothesis is of the general nature of an inductive conclu- 
sion, but it differs from an induction proper in that it In- 
volves no generalization, and in that it affords an explana- 
tion of observed facts according to known general princi- 
ples. The distinction between induction and hypothesis 
is illustrated by the process of deciphering a despatch writ- 
ten in a secret alphabet. A statistical investigation will 
show that in English writing, in general, the letter e oc- 
curs far more frequently than any other ; this general prop- 
osition is an induction from the particular cases examined. 
If now the despatch to be deciphered is found to contain 
26 characters or less, one of which occurs much more fre- 
quently than any of the others, the probable explanation 
is that each character stands for a letter, and the most fre- 
quent one for e : this is hypothesis. At the outset, this is 
a hypothesis not only in the present sense, but also in that 
of being a provisional theory insufficiently supported. As 
the process of deciphering proceeds, however, the infer- 
ences become more and more probable, until practical cer- 
tainty Is attained, still the nature of the evidence re- 
2959 
mains the same ; the conclusion is held true for the sake 
of the explanation it affords of observed facts. Generally 
speaking, the conclusions of hypothetic inference cannot 
be arrived at inductively, because their truth is not suscep- 
tible of direct observation in single cases ; nor can the con- 
clusions of inductions, on account of their generality, be 
reached by hypothetic inference. For instance, any his- 
torical fact, as that Napoleon Bonaparte once lived, is a 
hypothesis ; for we believe the proposition because its ef- 
fects current tradition, the histories, the monuments, 
etc. are observed. No mere generalization of observed 
facts could ever teach us that Napoleon lived. Again, we 
inductively infer that every particle of matter gravitates 
toward every other. Hypothesis might lead to this result 
for any given pair of particles, but never could show that 
the law is universal. The chief precautions to be used in 
adopting hypotheses are two : first, we should take pains 
not to confine our verifications to certain orders of effects 
to which the supposed fact would give rise, but to exam- 
ine effects of every kind ; secondly, before a hypothesis can 
be regarded as anything more than a suggestion, it must 
have produced successful predictions. For example, hy 
Sotheses concerning the luminiferous ether have had the 
efect that they would necessitate certain longitudinal os- 
cillations to which nothing in the phenomenacorresponds ; 
and consequently these theories ought not to be held as 
probably true, but only as analogues of the truth. As long 
as the kinetical theory of gases merely explained the laws 
of Boyle and Charles, which it was constructed to explain, 
it had little importance ; but when it was shown that dif- 
fusion, viscosity, and conductibility in gases were con- 
nected and subject to those laws which theory had predict- 
ed, the probability of the hypothesis became very great. 
I asked him what he thought of Locusts, and whether 
the History might not be better accounted for, supposing 
them to be the winged Creatures that fell so thick about 
the Camp of Israel? but by his answer it appear'd he had 
never heard of any such Hypothesis. 
Maundrell, Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 61. 
We have explained the phsenomena of the heavens and 
of our sea by the power of gravity. . . . But hitherto I 
have not been able to discover the cause of those proper- 
ties of gravity from phenomena, and I frame no hypoth- 
eses; for whatever is not deduced from the ph&nomena 
is to be called an hypothesis; and hypotheses, whether me- 
taphysical or physical, whether of occult qualities or me- 
chanical, have no place in experimental philosophy. 
Newton, Principia (tr. by Motte), iii. 
5. An ill-supported theory; a proposition not 
believed, but whose consequences it is thought 
desirable to compare with facts. 
An hypothesis is any supposition which we make (either 
without actual evidence, or on evidence avowedly insuf- 
ficient), in order to endeavor to deduce from it conclusions 
in accordance with facts which are known to be real ; un- 
der the idea that if the conclusions to which the hypothesis 
leads are known truths, the hypothesis either must be, or 
at least is likely to be true. J. S. Mill. 
Documentary, monophyletic, nebular, etc. , hypothe- 
sis. See the adjectives. Hypothesis of degeneration. 
See degeneration. = Syn. Speculation, etc. See theory. 
hypothesise, . *. See hypothesize. 
hypothesist (hl-poth'e-sist), n. [< hypotheses) 
+ -ist.~\ One who defends a hypothesis. 
hypothesize (hi-poth'e-siz), j>. i. ; pret. and pp. 
hypothesized, ppr. hypothesizing. [< hypotheses) 
+ -ize.~] To form hypotheses. Also hypothe- 
sise, hypothetize. 
One certain proof is, that the Greeks soon lost or entirely 
neglected it, when they began to hypothesise. 
Wariiurton, Divine Legation, iii. 4. 
We might write and talk and hypothesize, theorize, and 
reason ! Shelley, in Dowden, I. 229. 
hypothetic (hl-po-thet'ik), a. [=F .hypothe'tique 
= Sp. hipotetico = Pg. hypothetico = It. ipote- 
tico (cf. D. G. hypothetisch = Dan. hypothetisk 
= Sw. hypotetisk), < LL. hypotheticus, one who 
proceeds hypothetically, < Gr. {nrodertKOf, sup- 
posed, hypothetical, < vwoOeeit;, hypothesis : see 
hypothesis.'] Founded on or characterized by a 
hypothesis; supposititious; conjectural. 
Essential errors in first principles naturally and neces- 
sarily lead to erroneous inferences ; and it is in vain that 
hypothetic notions will be assumed, in order to give the 
desired consistency to any particular theory. 
T. Cogan, Disquisitions, it 1. 
Hypothetic Inference. See inference. Hypothetic 
realism or dualism, the metaphysical doctrine that ob- 
jects external to the consciousness of the subject, though 
not immediately known, may be inferred to exist from the 
phenomena of consciousness. 
hypothetical (hi-p6-thet'i-kal), a. and n. [< hy- 
pothetic + -al.'] 1. a. Same as hypothetic, and 
the more common form. 
I may notice by the way that there is a great deal of va- 
riation in the language of logicians in regard to the terms 
conditional and hypothetical. You are aware that condi- 
tionalis in Latin is commonly applied as a translation of 
hypothetikos in Greek; and by Boethius, who was the 
first among the Latins who elaborated the logical doc- 
trine of hypotheticals, the two terms are used convertibly 
with each other. By many of the schoolmen, however, 
the term hypothetical (hypotheticus) was used to denote 
the genus, and the term conditional to denote the species, 
and from them this nomenclature has passed into many 
of the more modern compends of logic and among 
others, into those of Aldrich and Whately. This latter 
usage is wrong. If either term is to be used in subordi- 
nation to the other, conditional, as the more extensive 
term, ought to be applied to designate the genus ; and so 
it has accordingly been employed by the best logicians. 
Sir W. Hamilton. 
hypotrichously 
The numerical estimates of a large savage population 
must, of course, be in a great degree hypothetical. 
Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., note. 
The great event of Wordsworth's school-days was the 
death of his father, who left what may be called a hypo- 
tlii'tii-itl estate, consisting chiefly of claims upon the first 
Earl of Lonsdale. Lou-ell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 206. 
Destructive hypothetical syllogism, a reasoning in 
tins form : If A is, B is ; but B is not, therefore A is not. 
Hypothetical argument. See argument. Hypothet- 
ical baptism. .Same as cuiulitiuiiul Ixiptivm (which see, 
under baptism). Hypothetical period, in gram., a sen- 
tence expressing a condition and conclusion, or composed 
of a protasis and an apodosis. Hypothetical propo- 
sition, in logic : (a) A proposition consisting of an antece- 
dent and a consequent clause ; one which states that two 
facts are in the relation of reason and consequent ; one 
which excludes an event from the universe of possibility. 
(b) A proposition consisting of two or more clauses united 
by conjunctions, or which states a relation to exist be- 
tween different possibilities. Hypothetical question, 
a form of question allowed by the modern law of evidence 
for the purpose of calling out the opinion of an expert wit- 
ness, such facts as the interrogating counsel claims he 
has already proved being stated as a hypothesis, and the 
witness being requested to state to the jury what his opin- 
ion is, supposing or assuming such facts to be true. Hy- 
pothetical syllogism, a syllogism in which one of the 
premises is a hypothetical proposition. The following is 
an example of the form of inference which is usually con- 
sidered as the direct hypothetical syllogism : If it lightens, 
it will thunder ; it does lighten ; hence, it will thunder. 
But some logicians refuse the name of syllogism to this in- 
ference, and consider the simplest type of hypothetical syl- 
logism to be : If it thunders, it will lighten ; if it rains, it 
will lighten ; hence, if it rains, it will thunder. 
H. 11. A hypothetical proposition. 
Universal abstract Judgments and hypotheticals, on the 
other hand, appear to assert merely necessary connexion 
of ideal content, and therefore point only to that in the 
real which is the ground of the consequence necessarily 
following. Mind, IX. 128. 
hypothetically (hl-po-thet'i-kal-i), adv. In a 
hypothetical manner or relation; conjecturally. 
Whenever anatomical investigation shows the combined 
action of several distinct fibres, the resulting sensation 
may, hypothetically, be regarded as composite. 
./. Sully, Sensation and Intuition, p. 59. 
hypothetico-disjunctiye (hi-po-thet"i-ko-dis- 
gungk'tiv), a. Combining the characters of the 
hypothetic anddisjunctive forms of proposition. 
Hypothetlco-disjunctive proposition, a hypotheti- 
cal proposition with a disjunctive consequent. 
hypothetist (hi-poth'e-tist), . [< hypotlwt(ic) 
+ -int.'] Same as hypothesist. 
hypothetize (hi-poth'e-tiz), v. i. ; pret. and pp. 
hypothetizcd, ppr. hypothetizing. [< hypothetic) 
+ -ize.~] Same as hypothesize. 
hypotrachelium (hl"p6-tra-ke'li-um), n. ; pi. 
hi/potrnchelia (-a). [^ L.' hypotrachelium, in 
arch., < Gr. moTpax^ov, the lower part of the 
neck, the neck of a column, < in-or/M^Xof, un- 
der the neck, < i>v6, under, + TP&X>J).OS, the neck.] 
In arch., in 
the Doric or- 
der, the junc- 
tion of the cap- 
ital and the 
shaft, marked 
by a bevel or 
cut around the 
Hypotrachelium (A, 
ton, a column of the 
lower edge of 
the capital 
block. Thechan- 
neling is carried 
across the hypo- 
trachelium, upon 
aa'Sr annulets! 
The hypotrache- 
lium has the appearance of a sharp black line encircling 
the shaft near its summit. Its material function was to 
preserve the sharp arrises of the capital from chipping 
when the block was put in place ; its artistic function is 
to serve as the first step in the transition from the verti- 
cal lines of the shaft to the horizontal lines of the entabla- 
ture. Vitruvius applies the term hypotrachelium to the 
entire neck of the capital, or that part which, while in 
one block with the echinus, forms a continuation of the 
shaft. Also incinion, hypotrachelion. 
Hypotricha (M-pot'ri-kS), . pi. [NL., < Gr. 
vvo, under, + dpi? (rpix-), hair.] An order of 
ciliate inf usorians. These animalcules are free-swim- 
ming, and are mostly flattened or compressed ; the loco- 
motive cilia are confined to the inferior or ventral surface, 
and often variously modified ; the superior or dorsal sur- 
face is usually smooth or glabrous, but occasionally bears 
a few scattered or longitudinal rows of immotile setose 
cilia ; the oral and anal apertures are conspicuously de- 
veloped, and ventrally located ; and trichocysts are rarely 
developed. The order was founded by Stein, and is con- 
trasted with Betentrieha, Halotricha, and Peritricha. It 
contains about 6 families and 40 genera. 
hypotrichous (hi-pot'ri-kus), . [As Hypotricha 
+ -oits.] 1. Of or pertaining to the Hypotricha, 
or to one of them. 2. Having locomotory cilia 
confined to the under side of the body : specifi- 
cally said of the Hypotricha. 
hypotrichously (hi-pot'ri-kus-li), adv. So as to 
be ciliate underneath. S. Kent. 
