A
Johnson' would not have written such a book_--i.e., any man of his
genius for elaborate eloquence.

A Collective Term denotes a multitude of similar things considered as
forming one whole, as 'regiment,' 'flock,' 'nation': not distributively,
that is, not the similar things severally; to denote them we must say
'soldiers of the regiment,' 'sheep of the flock,' and so on. If in a
multitude of things there is no resemblance, except the fact of being
considered as parts of one whole, as 'the world,' or 'the town of
Nottingham' (meaning its streets and houses, open spaces, people, and
civic organisation), the term denoting them as a whole is Singular; but
'the world' or 'town of Nottingham,' meaning the inhabitants only, is
Collective.

In their strictly collective use, all such expressions are equivalent to
singular terms; but many of them may also be used as general terms, as
when we speak of 'so many regiments of the line,' or discuss the
'plurality of worlds'; and in this general use they denote any of a
multitude of things of the same kind--regiments, or habitable worlds.

Names of substances, such as 'gold,' 'air,' 'water,' may be employed as
singular, collective, or general terms; though, perhaps, as singular
terms only figuratively, as when we say _Gold is king_. If we say with
Thales, '_Water is the source of all things_,' 'water' seems to be used
collectively. But substantive names are frequently used as general
terms. For example, _Gold is heavy_ means 'in comparison with other
things,' such as water. And, plainly, it does not mean that the
aggregate of gold is heavier than the aggregate of water, but only that
its specific gravity is greater; that is, bulk for bulk, any piece of
gold is heavier than water.

Finally, any class-name may be used collectively if we wish to assert
something of the things denoted by it, not distributively but
altogether, as that _Sheep are more numerous than wolves_.

CHAPTER IV

THE CONNOTATION OF TERMS

Sec. 1. Terms are next to be classified according to their
Connotation--that is, according to what they imply as characteristic of
the things denoted. We have seen that general names are used to denote
many things in the same sense, because the things denoted resemble one
another in certain ways: it is this resemblance in certain points that
leads us to class the things together and call them by the same name;
and therefore the points of resemblance constitute the