Accordingly, on the soundest view, there is no point in fixing a specific number (1). Some, however, have set it at four; others at five; others at seven (4); others at ten; others at twelve (5); still others at forty, at seventy, and yet other figures have been suggested.

Each proponent clings to a proof-text in which that particular number is mentioned and which, in his estimation, produces certitude. Yet such certitude (6) need not carry over to other cases, for the evidence may well be restricted to the instance at hand.

Hence, when a report is transmitted in this way, and to that is added the requirement that this numerical abundance remain uniform from the beginning of the chain to its end—by “uniform” we mean that the stated multitude must not diminish (7) at any point, though an increase would be all the more preferable (8)—and when the termination of the chain rests on something actually seen or heard, not on a conclusion established by pure rational speculation alone (9), the conditions are fulfilled.