Analogy

Analogy, the similitude of relations between one thing and another. In Logic the term signifies resemblance of any kind on which an agreement. which cannot be founded on induction, may be based. "Analogical reasoning . . . may be reduced to the following formula: - Two things resemble each other in one or more respects; a certain proposition is true of the one, therefore it is true of the other." Analogical reasoning, though sometimes very effective, is often apt to lead the reasoner astray, as it is difficult to find a very exact analogy. The appellation of England as "The Mother Country," signifies that there is an analogy between the relations of England and her colonies and those of a mother and her children.