The generation of order by means of relations of consecutiveness, though important in its own sphere, is less general than the method which uses a transitive relation to define the order. It often happens in a series that there are an infinite number of intermediate terms between any two that may be selected, however near together these may be. Take, for instance, fractions in order of magnitude. Between any two fractions there are others—for example, the arithmetic mean of the two. Consequently there is no such thing as a pair of consecutive fractions. If we depended [Pg 37] upon consecutiveness for defining order, we should not be able to define the order of magnitude among fractions. But in fact the relations of greater and less among fractions do not demand generation from relations of consecutiveness, and the relations of greater and less among fractions have the three characteristics which we need for defining serial relations. In all such cases the order must be defined by means of a transitive relation, since only such a relation is able to leap over an infinite number of intermediate terms. The method of consecutiveness, like that of counting for discovering the number of a collection, is appropriate to the finite; it may even be extended to certain infinite series, namely, those in which, though the total number of terms is infinite, the number of terms between any two is always finite; but it must not be regarded as general. Not only so, but care must be taken to eradicate from the imagination all habits of thought resulting from supposing it general. If this is not done, series in which there are no consecutive terms will remain difficult and puzzling. And such series are of vital importance for the understanding of continuity, space, time, and motion. There are many ways in which series may be generated, but all depend upon the finding or construction of an asymmetrical transitive connected relation. Some of these ways have considerable importance. We may take as illustrative the generation of series by means of a three-term relation which we may call "between." This method is very useful in geometry, and may serve as an introduction to relations having more than two terms; it is best introduced in connection with elementary geometry.