\In*duc"tion\, n. [L. inductio: cf. F. induction. See
{Induct}.]
1. The act or process of inducting or bringing in;
   introduction; entrance; beginning; commencement.
         I know not you; nor am I well pleased to make this
         time, as the affair now stands, the induction of
         your acquaintance.                    --Beau. & Fl.
         These promises are fair, the parties sure, And our
         induction dull of prosperous hope.    --Shak.
2. An introduction or introductory scene, as to a play; a
   preface; a prologue. [Obs.]
         This is but an induction: I will d?aw The curtains
         of the tragedy hereafter.             --Massinger.
3. (Philos.) The act or process of reasoning from a part to a
   whole, from particulars to generals, or from the
   individual to the universal; also, the result or inference
   so reached.
         Induction is an inference drawn from all the
         particulars.                          --Sir W.
                                               Hamilton.
         Induction is the process by which we conclude that
         what is true of certain individuals of a class, is
         true of the whole class, or that what is true at
         certain times will be true in similar circumstances
         at all times.                         --J. S. Mill.
4. The introduction of a clergyman into a benefice, or of an
   official into a office, with appropriate acts or
   ceremonies; the giving actual possession of an
   ecclesiastical living or its temporalities.
5. (Math.) A process of demonstration in which a general
   truth is gathered from an examination of particular cases,
   one of which is known to be true, the examination being so
   conducted that each case is made to depend on the
   preceding one; -- called also {successive induction}.
6. (Physics) The property by which one body, having
   electrical or magnetic polarity, causes or induces it in
   another body without direct contact; an impress of
   electrical or magnetic force or condition from one body on
   another without actual contact.
{Electro-dynamic induction}, the action by which a variable
   or interrupted current of electricity excites another
   current in a neighboring conductor forming a closed
   circuit.
{Electro-magnetic induction}, the influence by which an
   electric current produces magnetic polarity in certain
   bodies near or around which it passes.
{Electro-static induction}, the action by which a body
   possessing a charge of statical electricity develops a
   charge of statical electricity of the opposite character
   in a neighboring body.
{Induction coil}, an apparatus producing induced currents of
   great intensity. It consists of a coil or helix of stout
   insulated copper wire, surrounded by another coil of very
   fine insulated wire, in which a momentary current is
   induced, when a current (as from a voltaic battery),
   passing through the inner coil, is made, broken, or
   varied. The inner coil has within it a core of soft iron,
   and is connected at its terminals with a condenser; --
   called also {inductorium}, and {Ruhmkorff's coil}.
{Induction pipe}, {port}, or {valve}, a pipe, passageway, or
   valve, for leading or admitting a fluid to a receiver, as
   steam to an engine cylinder, or water to a pump.
{Magnetic induction}, the action by which magnetic polarity
   is developed in a body susceptible to magnetic effects
   when brought under the influence of a magnet.
{Magneto-electric induction}, the influence by which a magnet
   excites electric currents in closed circuits.
{Logical induction}, (Philos.), an act or method of reasoning
   from all the parts separately to the whole which they
   constitute, or into which they may be united collectively;
   the operation of discovering and proving general
   propositions; the scientific method.
{Philosophical induction}, the inference, or the act of
   inferring, that what has been observed or established in
   respect to a part, individual, or species, may, on the
   ground of analogy, be affirmed or received of the whole to
   which it belongs. This last is the inductive method of
   Bacon. It ascends from the parts to the whole, and forms,
   from the general analogy of nature, or special
   presumptions in the case, conclusions which have greater
   or less degrees of force, and which may be strengthened or
   weakened by subsequent experience and experiment. It
   relates to actual existences, as in physical science or
   the concerns of life. Logical induction is founded on the
   necessary laws of thought; philosophical induction, on the
   interpretation of the indications or analogy of nature.
Syn: Deduction.
Usage: {Induction}, {Deduction}. In induction we observe a
       sufficient number of individual facts, and, on the
       ground of analogy, extend what is true of them to
       others of the same class, thus arriving at general
       principles or laws. This is the kind of reasoning in
       physical science. In deduction we begin with a general
       truth, which is already proven or provisionally
       assumed, and seek to connect it with some particular
       case by means of a middle term, or class of objects,
       known to be equally connected with both. Thus, we
       bring down the general into the particular, affirming
       of the latter the distinctive qualities of the former.
       This is the syllogistic method. By induction Franklin
       established the identity of lightning and electricity;
       by deduction he inferred that dwellings might be
       protected by lightning rods.