At times the connexion between the ideas is evident; but the connexion between the forms obscure: and _vice vers[^a]_. Oftener, however, the case is as it is with the subjects of the present chapter. Are the ideas of ordinalism in number, and of superlativeness in degree, allied? The metaphysical view, taken by itself, gives us but unsatisfactory evidence; whilst the empirical view, taken by itself, does the same. The two views, however, taken together, give us evidence of the kind called cumulative, which is weak or strong according to its degree. Compared with _three_, _four_, &c., all the ordinals are formed by the addition of _th_, or _t_; and _th_, _dh_, _t_, or _d_, is the ordinal sign, not only in English, but in the other Gothic languages. But, as stated before, this is not the whole of the question. The letter _t_ is found, with a similar power, 1. In Latin, as in _tertius_, _quartus_, _quintus_, _sextus_; 2. Greek, as in [Greek: tritos] (_tritos_), [Greek: tetartos] (_tetartos_), [Greek: pemptos] (_pemptos_), [Greek: hektos] (_hectos_), [Greek: ennatos] (_ennatos_), [Greek: dekatos] (_dekatos_); 3. Sanskrit, as in _tritiyas_, _['c]atu['r]tas_, _shasht'as_=_third_, _fourth_, _sixth_; 4. In Zend, as in _thrityas_=_the third_, _haptathas_=_the seventh_; 5. In Lithuanic, as _ketwirtas_=_fourth_, _penktas_=_fifth_, _szesztas_=_sixth_; 6. In Old Slavonic, as in _c['e]tvertyi_=_fourth_, _pjatyi_=_fifth_, _shestyi_=_sixth_, _devjatyi_=_ninth_, _desjatyi_=_tenth_. Speaking more generally, it is found, with a similar force, throughout the Indo-European stock. The following forms indicate a fresh train of reasoning. {280} The Greek [Greek: hepta] (_hepta_), and Icelandic _sjau_, have been compared with the Latin _septem_ and the Anglo-Saxon _seofon_. In the Greek and Icelandic there is the absence, in the Latin and Anglo-Saxon the presence, of a final liquid (_m_ or _n_). Again, the Greek forms [Greek: ennea] (_ennea_), and the Icelandic _n['i]u_=_nine_, have been compared with the Latin _novem_ and the Gothic _nigun_. Thirdly, the Greek [Greek: deka] (_deka_), and the Icelandic _t['i]u_, have been compared with the Latin _decem_ and the Gothic _tihun_=_ten_. These three examples indicate the same circumstance; _viz._ that the _m_ or _n_, in _seven_, _nine_, and _ten_, is no part of the original word. s. 335. The following hypotheses account for these phenomena; _viz._ that the termination of the ordinals is the superlative termination _-tam_: that in some words, like the Latin _septimus,_ the whole form is preserved; that in some, as in [Greek: tetartos]=_fourth_, the _t_ only remains; and that in others, as in _decimus_, the _m_ alone remains. Finally, that in _seven_, _nine_, and _ten_, the final liquid, although now belonging to the cardinal, was once the characteristic of the ordinal number. For a fuller exhibition of these views, see Grimm, Deutsche Grammatik, iii. 640. * * * * * {281}