Page:The evolution of worlds - Lowell.djvu/267

Rh therefore driven to what is called the statistical method of inquiry—which is simply a branch of the doctrine of probabilities. It is the method by which we learn how many people are going to catch cold in Boston next

week when we know nothing about the people, or about colds, or about catching them. At first sight it might seem as if we could never discover anything in this hopelessly ignorant way, and as if we had almost better call in a doctor. But in the multitude of colds—not of counsellors—lies wisdom. So in other things not hygienic. As you cannot possibly divine, for instance, what each boy in town is going to do during the year,