54

100

energy in “foot-pounds,” which since a pound
is a pound and a foot is a foot all the world over
leads people to forget that a footpound in Edinburgh
and a footpound say in the Philippines differ
considerably; but the fault of the word probability is worse than that inasmuch
as the errors it leads to cannot be considered as
trifling, however rough a measurement may
satisfy us. We speak of the probability of an event.
It is not the event but the fact that ought to be
spoken of, a fact being an element of an event
resulting from an act of mental discrimination.
However, that is, comparatively
speaking, a trifle. When we so speak we only
mention one term of the ratio. What
would you think if I were to talk to about