﻿WITH 
  THE 
  DOMAIN 
  OF 
  THE 
  INORGANIC 
  65 
  

  

  is 
  possible 
  to 
  formulate 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  part 
  at 
  any 
  rate 
  of 
  

   what 
  is 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  inorganic 
  domain. 
  Whether 
  tin 
  -y 
  

   exhaust 
  the 
  re.ality 
  of 
  that 
  domain 
  is 
  quite 
  another 
  ques- 
  

   tion. 
  

  

  In 
  both 
  worlds 
  we 
  get 
  the 
  impression 
  of 
  order 
  and 
  uni- 
  

   formity. 
  We 
  recognise 
  it, 
  for 
  instance, 
  in 
  the 
  frequent 
  in- 
  

   exorableness 
  of 
  the 
  hereditary 
  relation 
  between 
  succe^m- 
  

   generations; 
  we 
  are 
  even 
  more 
  familiar 
  with 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  

   domain 
  of 
  the 
  inorganic. 
  There 
  do 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  many 
  

   big 
  collisions 
  in 
  the 
  heavens. 
  Everything 
  works 
  so 
  steadily 
  

   that 
  the 
  return 
  of 
  a 
  comet 
  can 
  be 
  predicted 
  to 
  a 
  night, 
  and 
  

   the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  an 
  eclipse 
  to 
  an 
  hour. 
  The 
  weather 
  may 
  

   be 
  changeable, 
  but 
  no 
  one 
  supposes 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  disorderly. 
  It 
  

   is 
  not 
  a 
  multiverse 
  that 
  we 
  live 
  in, 
  but 
  a 
  cosmos. 
  In 
  

   his 
  famous 
  Discourse 
  on 
  Molecules 
  (1873), 
  Clerk-Maxwell 
  

   spoke 
  of 
  the 
  verification 
  of 
  the 
  postulate 
  of 
  stability 
  in 
  the 
  

   properties 
  of 
  things. 
  Unthinkably 
  distant 
  worlds 
  are 
  built 
  

   up 
  of 
  molecules 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  kind 
  as 
  those 
  which 
  we 
  find 
  on 
  

   the 
  earth. 
  A 
  molecule 
  of 
  hydrogen, 
  for 
  instance, 
  whether 
  

   in 
  our 
  laboratories, 
  or 
  in 
  Sirius 
  or 
  in 
  Arcturus, 
  executes 
  

   its 
  vibrations 
  in 
  precisely 
  the 
  same 
  time. 
  The 
  furniture 
  

   of 
  the 
  earth 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  heavens 
  may 
  be 
  changed, 
  but 
  the 
  

   properties 
  of 
  its 
  constituents 
  remain. 
  " 
  Though 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  

   of 
  ages 
  catastrophes 
  have 
  occurred 
  and 
  may 
  yet 
  occur 
  

   in 
  the 
  heavens, 
  though 
  ancient 
  systems 
  may 
  be 
  dissolved 
  

   and 
  new 
  systems 
  evolved 
  out 
  of 
  their 
  ruins, 
  the 
  molecules 
  

   out 
  of 
  which 
  these 
  systems 
  are 
  built- 
  -the 
  foundation-stones 
  

   of 
  the 
  material 
  universe 
  remain 
  unbroken 
  and 
  unworn. 
  

   They 
  continue 
  this 
  day 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  created- 
  -perfect 
  in 
  

   number 
  and 
  measure 
  and 
  weight. 
  . 
  . 
  .' 
  For 
  " 
  molecules 
  ' 
  

   a 
  modern 
  chemist 
  would 
  read 
  ' 
  atoms 
  ', 
  and 
  even 
  then 
  he 
  

   would 
  remind 
  us 
  of 
  the 
  apparent 
  disintegration 
  of 
  the 
  atom 
  

  

  