But now the mind possesses the power of abstracting a greater or fewer number of qualities, and to these _qualities_ a name is given, and whenever these qualities are found combined in any object, this name can be applied. Thus the name _animal_ is given to any thing which has the qualities of existence and animal life, and the name _quadruped_ is given to any object which has the qualities of animal life and of four legs. Every thing which is regarded by the mind as a separate existence must have some peculiar quality, or action, or circumstance of time or place, to distinguish it from every other existence. Were there not something, either in the qualities or circumstances, which made each object in some respects peculiar, there would be no way to distinguish one thing from another. A _proper name_ is one which is used to recall the properties and circumstances which distinguish one individual existence from every other. Such is the word Mount Blanc, which recalls certain qualities and circumstances that distinguish one particular thing from all others, and the name Julius Cæsar, which recalls the character, qualities, and circumstances which distinguish one being from every other. Some words, then, are used to recall the peculiar qualities and circumstances of individual existences, and are called _proper names_; other words are used to recall a combination of certain qualities and circumstances, which unitedly are an object of conception, but are not considered by the mind as belonging to any real particular existence. These last words are called _general terms_ or _common names_. A great variety of names may be applied to the same object of conception or perception, according to the number of qualities and circumstances which are abstracted by the mind. Thus an object may be called a _thing_, and, in this case, the simple circumstance of existence is what is recalled by the word. The same object may be called an _animal_, and then the qualities of existence and animal life are made the objects of conception. It can also be called a _man_, and then, in addition to the qualities recalled by the word animal, are recalled those qualities which distinguish man from all other animals. It can also be called a _father_, and then to the qualities recalled by the term man is added the circumstance of his relation to some other being. The same object can be called _La Fayette_, and then, to all the preceding qualities, would be added in our conceptions all those peculiar qualities and circumstances which distinguish the hero of France from all other existences.