Therefore some serpent or serpents breathe flame:
an unexceptionable syllogism in the first mode of the third figure, in which both premises are true and yet the conclusion false; which every logician knows to be an absurdity. The conclusion being false and the syllogism correct, the premises can not be true. But the premises, considered as parts of a definition, are true. Therefore, the premises considered as parts of a definition can not be the real ones. The real premises must be—
A dragon is a really existing thing which breathes flame:
A dragon is a really existing serpent:
which implied premises being false, the falsity of the conclusion presents no absurdity.
If we would determine what conclusion follows from the same ostensible premises when the tacit assumption of real existence is left out, let us, according [pg 115] to the recommendation in a previous page, substitute means for is. We then have—
Dragon is a word meaning a thing which breathes flame:
Dragon is a word meaning a serpent:
From which the conclusion is,
Some word or words which mean a serpent, also mean a thing which breathes flame: