Those of Succession are either--(1) of direct causation, as that 'Water
quenches fire,' or (more strictly) that 'Evaporation reduces
temperature'; or (2) of the effect of a remote cause, as 'Bad harvests
tend to raise the price of bread'; or (3) of the joint effects of the
same cause, as that 'Night follows day' (from the revolution of the
earth), or the course of the seasons (from the inclination of the
earth's axis).
Laws of Co-existence are of several classes. (1) One has the generality
of a primary law, though it is proved only by Agreement, namely, 'All
gravitating bodies are inert'. Others, though less general than this,
are of very extensive range, as that 'All gases that are not decomposed
by rise of temperature have the same rate of expansion'; and, in Botany
that 'All monocotyledonous plants are endogenous'. These laws of
Co-existence are concerned with fundamental properties of bodies.
(2) Next come laws of the Co-existence of those properties which are
comprised in the definitions of Natural Kinds. Mill distinguished
between (α) classes of things that agree among themselves and differ
from others only in one or a few attributes (such as 'red things,'
'musical notes', 'carnivorous animals', 'soldiers'), and (β) classes of
things that agree among themselves and differ from others in a multitude
of characters: and the latter he calls Natural Kinds. These comprise the
chemical elements and their pure compounds (such as water, alcohol,
rock-salt), and the species of plants and animals. Clearly, each of
these is constituted by the co-existence or co-inherence of a multitude
of properties, some of which are selected as the basis of their
definitions. Thus, Gold is a metal of high specific gravity, atomic
weight 197.2, high melting point, low chemical affinities, great
ductility, yellow colour, etc.: a Horse has 'a vertebral column,
mammæ, a placental embryo, four legs, a single well-developed toe in
each foot provided with a hoof, a bushy tail, and callosities on the
inner sides of both the fore and the hind legs' (Huxley).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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