Facsimile PDF - Online Library of Liberty

OPENING ADDRESS
*I
PRESIDENT OF GECTION F (ECOSOUIC SCIESCE AND STATISTICS)
OF THZ
BRITISTI ASSOCIL~TION FOE THE ADVANCE-
AIEK’ll 01’ ~t;CIEXCE,
THE fidd of knowlcdgo which we cultivate in this Section is
so wide, that it would be impossiblc, in any introductory
remnrks, to noticc morc than n fern of the important questions
which claim our attention at the present time.
The nnme Statistics, in its trap meaning, denotes all knowledgo
relating to the condition of tho State or people. I am
sorry to ollservc, indeed, that many persons now use tho n-ord
stcltisficnE as if it wxc sponymous with uut~zcricnl; but it is
a mer0 accident of the information vith which \ye deal, that
it is often expressed in D nunlcricnl or tabular form. As other
scionces progress, they become morc cb matter of quantity nud
number, and so does our science ; but me must not snppose
that tho occurrence of numerical statcmcnts is the mark of
statistical information.
In order, however, that any subject can Le fitly discussed
by n Section of this Association, it should bo capable of
scientific treatment. We must not only have facts, numerical
* Printed in the “Journal of thc Statistical Society,” September, 1870.