Hypothesis

[Gr. hypothesis, supposition.] An argument deduced from an allowed fact. For instance, the sun would disappear if it were deprived of its power of giving light, and also if an opaque body were to be inserted between it and the earth; either of these circumstances would be amply sufficient to explain a total eclipse, and would be the hypothesis from whence we would derive that conclusion. In all mathematical propositions in which the manner of reasoning by hypothesis is so vitally nece ary, there are two things to be taken into consideration, -firstly, the hypothesis, and, secondly, the conclusion, the former being that which is granted, or built on supposition, either of which may be the case, and the latter being the nece ary consequence of reasoning from the data.