nly occurs in Barbara;
see chap. x. Sec. 6), its subject and predicate are respectively the less
and the greater in extent or denotation; and the premises are called
after the peculiar terms they contain: the expressions 'major premise'
and 'minor premise' have nothing to do with the order in which the
premises are presented; though it is usual to place the major premise
first.

(3) No term must be distributed in the conclusion unless it is
distributed in the premises.

It is usual to give this as one of the General Canons of the Syllogism;
but we have seen (chap. vi. Sec. 6) that it is of wider application.
Indeed, 'not to go beyond the evidence' belongs to the definition of
formal proof. A breech of this rule in a syllogism is the fallacy of
Illicit Process of the Minor, or of the Major, according to which term
has been unwarrantably distributed. The following parasyllogism
illicitly distributes both terms of the conclusion:

All poets are pathetic;
Some orators are not poets:
.'. No orators are pathetic.

(4) The Middle Term must be distributed at least once in the premises
(in order to prove a conclusion in the given terms).

For the use of mediate evidence is to show the relation of terms that
cannot be directly compared; this is only possible if the middle term
furnishes the ground of comparison; and this (in Logic) requires that
the whole denotation of the middle should be either included or excluded
by one of the other terms; since if we only know that the other terms
are related to _some_ of the middle, their respective relations may not
be with the same part of it.

It is true that in what has been called the "numerically definite
syllogism," an inference may be drawn, though our canon seems to be
violated. Thus:

60 sheep in 100 are horned;
60 sheep in 100 are blackfaced:
.'. at least 20 blackfaced sheep in 100 are horned.

But such an argument, though it may be correct Arithmetic, is not Logic
at all; and when such numerical evidence is obtainable the comparatively
indefinite arguments of Logic are needless. Another apparent exception
is the following:

Most men are 5 feet high;
Most men are semi-rational:
.'. Some semi-rational things are 5 feet high.

Here the Middle Term (men) is distributed in neither premise, yet the
indisputable conclusion is a logical proposition. The premises, however,
are really arithmetical; for 'most' means 'more