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72

verifiable predictions can be based should
never be accepted, except with some
mark attached to it to show that it is
regarded as a mere convenient vehicle of
thought,— a mere matter of form.

In an extreme case, where the likelihood
is of an unmistakably objective character,
and is strongly supported by good inductions,
I would allow it to cause the postponement
of the testing of a hypothesis. For
example, if a man came to me and pretended to be able to
turn lead into gold, I should say to him, “My dear sir, I haven't time to make gold.”
But even then the likelihood would not weigh
with me directly, as such, but because it
would become a factor in what really
is in all cases the leading consideration in Abduction,
which is the question of Economy,