92$ A BRIEF, SCtOË1Sß OF ONTOLOGY. Yet further, ßthly, Signs are either seals to signify and confirm what has been done, or pledges to denote and assure what is to be done ; or indications and evidences of what is doing. In the last place, Signs are sometimes necessary and cer tain, as the morning star foretéls the approaching snn -rise with assurance ; and sometimes contingent, or only probable, as a very dark sky in cold weather is a sign of snow a-coming, bat it is a doubtful one. Note I. Though there are many cases wherein a sign is really, naturally, and necessarily connected wi!h the thing signi- fied, yet it acquires the proper character of a sign only by the Work of the mind, which makes one thing to signify another; and therefore it is properly a mental relation. 4. There are scarceany two things in the world so exeeed- ing distant and different from each other, but they may become signs of each other by a voluntary or an accidental associa- tion of their, ideas in the mind. If a man should happen to see an eclipse of the sun in the water when he was fishing for sal- mon, be may perhaps never see a salmon, but he may think of an eclipse. Among all the signs that are useful to men, the chief are words, which are the most universal signs of our thoughts or ideas: But these arise only from the appointment and agree- usent of men. See a larger account of this in logic. Though all words and names are signs found out by the mindof man, and stand to signify things by the mere agreement Of men, yet those are more eminently mental relations which arecalled external denominations, that is, Names given to things upon the account of some conception which the mind affixes to them rather than for any thing that really belongs to them ; as when we say, Germany lies on the right side of England, and Ireland on its left : This is a mere external or outward denomi- nation drawn from our usual manner of inspecting a map with oui° face toward the north part of it : But if we look on it with our face to the south, Íreland will lie on the right, and Germany on the left. Many terms of art which are called technical words, are a sort of outward denominations which are used in various sciences to signify the manner of our conception of things. If I say a dog is a species of beasts, the word species may be called a logical term of art : Or when I say the name dog is a monosyllable, or it is made up of one vowel and two consonants, I think these are grammatical terms of art, and may be called mental relations. fa, sol, la, mi, are the same in music. Thus far the a2q.etions ofbeing.
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