the mighty labors of the syllogism.

And lo! we have been syllogizing all these years, alike when we listen
to the nocturnal yowl of the tomcat, and to the morning song of the
lark; alike, when we smell the rose, seize the orange, or devour the
tempting oyster. In syllogism do we live and move, and have our being.
This is the grand discovery--the last great contribution to philosophy
from Concord's greatest philosopher. We suddenly discover that we have
been syllogizing like philosophers, as Mrs. Malaprop discovered that
her children had been speaking English. The illustration of this
overwhelming discovery is peculiarly happy, for he applies it to the
discovery of a red flannel rag in the back yard or garden, and, after
detecting the red flannel by syllogism, he advances to the grander
problem of showing how, by philosophic methods, we can actually
distinguish an old tin can from an elephant. To enjoy this fully, the
reader must take it himself from the reported lecture.

"The act of recognition is an unconscious syllogistic process in
the second figure of the syllogism. I perceive something scarlet
in the garden. So far I recognize a host of attributes; it is a
real object; the place, surroundings and color are recognized.
The sensations were so familiar that the recognition was
inconceivably rapid. Then comes a slower process. The scarlet is
an attribute. What can the object be? I think it is a piece of
red flannel. The inference comes almost to the surface of
consciousness, but I have reasoned unconsciously: This object is
red. A piece of flannel is red; therefore this may be a piece of
red flannel. The middle term is predicate in both premises. The
unknown object is red. A familiar object (flannel) is red.
Hence, I recognize this as flannel. I identify the unknown
object with what is familiar in my mind. But the logician will
say that this reasoning is on the invalid mode of the second
figure, from which you can never draw an affirmative conclusion.
Precisely so, if you mean a necessary conclusion. But
sense-perception uses affirmative modes of the second figure and
derives probable knowledge therefrom. I make probable knowledge
more certain by verifying the inference or correcting it. I go
to the garden and pick up the object, and see the threads and
fiber of the wool. Or perhaps I find it was a piece of red
paper. But wh