Full Idea
The chemist contents himself with a single experiment to establish any qualitative fact, because he knows there is such a uniformity in the behavior of chemical bodies that another experiment would be a mere repetition of the first in every respect.
Gist of Idea
Chemists rely on a single experiment to establish a fact; repetition is pointless
Source
Charles Sanders Peirce (Reasoning and the Logic of Things [1898], IV)
Book Reference
Peirce,Charles Sanders: 'Reasoning and the Logic of Things', ed/tr. Ketner,K.L. [Harvard 1992], p.169
A Reaction
I take it this endorses my 'Upanishads' view of natural kinds - that for each strict natural kind, if you've seen one you've them all. This seems to fit atoms and molecules, but only roughly fits tigers.
Related Idea
Idea 8153 By knowing one piece of clay or gold, you know all of clay or gold [Anon (Upan)]