[Greek: ègó s' êteka doûlon ônt' èleúteron [Footnote: Evidently the original of the line in Terence's Andria, 37,—feci ex servo ut esses libertus mihi.],
where the separation of [Greek: doûlon] from [Greek: ôntra] would lead to an interpretation exactly contrary to what is intended.
And again—
[Greek: pentékont' àndrôn èkatòn lípe dîos Àchilleús],
where the separation of [Greek: àndrôn] from [Greek: èkatòn] leads to a ludicrous error.
Any reader whose youth may have been nourished on 'The Fairchild Family' may possibly recollect a sentence which ran somewhat on this wise—'Henry,' said Mr. Fairchild, 'is this true? Are you a thief and a liar too?' But I am afraid he will miss the keen delight which can be extracted at a certain age from turning the tables upon Mr. Fairchild thus—Henry said, 'Mr. Fairchild, is this true? Are you a thief and a liar too?'
§ 852. The fallacy of division has been accommodated by modern writers to the meaning which they have assigned to the fallacy of composition. So that by the 'fallacy of division' is now meant arguing from the collective to the distributive use of a term. Further, it is laid down that when the middle term is used distributively in the major premiss and collectively in the minor, we have the fallacy of composition; whereas, when the middle term is used collectively in the major premiss and distributively in the minor, we have the fallacy of division. Thus the first of the two examples appended would be composition and the second division.
(1) Two and three are odd and even.
Five is two and three.
.'. Five is odd and even.
(2) The Germans are an intellectual people.
Hans and Fritz are Germans.
.'. They are intellectual people.
§ 853. As the possibility of this sort of ambiguity is not confined to the middle term, it seems desirable to add that when either the major or minor term is used distributively in the premiss and collectively in the conclusion, we have the fallacy of composition, and in the converse case the fallacy of division. Here is an instance of the latter kind in which the minor term is at fault—