Induction \In*duc"tion\, n. [L. inductio: cf. F. induction.
         See
   Induct.]
  
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   1. The act or process of inducting or
         bringing in;
      introduction; entrance; beginning;
         commencement.
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            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.
    
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            These promises are fair, the parties sure,
            And our induction dull of prosperous hope. --Shak.
     
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   2. An introduction or introductory
         scene, as to a play; a
      preface; a prologue. [Obs.]
 
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            This is but an induction: I will draw
            The curtains of the tragedy hereafter. --Massinger.
    
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   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.
     
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            Induction is an inference drawn from all the
            particulars.                          --Sir W.
                                                  Hamilton.
     
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            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.
    
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   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.
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   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.
     
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   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.
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   {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}, Induction
         port, or Induction 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.
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         Webster]

   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.
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          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.
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