... most extensive meaning of the term as 'inferring a proposition from a previous proposition or propositions; giving credence to it or claiming credence for it as a conclusion from some else'. (Stebbings 1939) It is commonly believed that there are two general methods of reasoning - induction and deduction. Induction is said to be the method in which we pass, mentally from the examination of particular cases to the assertion of a generalization about them. Conversely, in deduction we are said to pass, mentally, from a universal proposition to an assertion about a particular case. At a closer inspection it is apparent that induction in this significance is rather a case of classification than of reasoning, and deduction the enlargement of a class by the addition to it of another particular instance. In teaching children the elements of parsing might call their attention to a number of sentences like the following: The boy ...

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