ABSTRACT
PR ELO G ICAL M E N T A LITY IN R ELA TIO N TO NUM ERATION
It is quite possible future works dealing with linguistics may confirm the theory I have suggested in the preceding chapter. Nevertheless, in what follows I shall confine myself to proving it in one particular point, upon which our documentary evidence is fairly complete and accessible : that is, the way in which different peoples, especially those of the most primitive type we know, practise numeration. The various methods of counting and calculating, of forming and using the names for numbers, will possibly enable us to see, actually at work, the mentality of primitives where it differs specifically from logical thought. This will serve as a specimen of proofs which I cannot enter upon in detail.
