BOOK I PART III
istence and non-existence destroy each other,
and are perfectly incompatible and contrary.
And though it be impossible to judge exactly of
the degrees of any quality, such as colour, taste,
heat, cold, when the difference betwixt them is
very small: yet it is easy to decide, that any of
them is superior or inferior to another, when
their difference is considerable. And this deci-
sion we always pronounce at first sight, with-
out any enquiry or reasoning.
We might proceed, after the same manner, in
fixing the proportions of quantity or number,
and might at one view observe a superiority or
inferiority betwixt any numbers, or figures; es-
pecially where the difference is very great and
remarkable. As to equality or any exact pro-
portion, we can only guess at it from a single
consideration; except in very short numbers,