CHAPTER III.. Intermediate Forms of Abstraction.

INTERMEDIATE FORMS OF ABSTRACTION.

Division into two classes according to the function of the word.—First class. Words not indispensable, and only in a limited degree the instrument of substitution.—Difference between generic images and lower concepts. Characteristics of these two classes. Is there continuity between the two? Nature of the lower forms of intermediate abstraction, according to languages, numeration, etc. Concrete-abstract period.—Second class. Words are indispensable and become an instrument of substitution.—Difficulty in finding examples.—History of zoölogical classification: pre-scientific period: Aristotle, Linnæus, Cuvier, etc., contemporary writers. Progress towards unity 86