PHYSICS OF SEGMENTATION. 103 



pressure and volume, in surface energy surface tension and sur- 

 face, in chemical energy chemical intensity (avidity) and mass. 



IV. The law of events or action. Eveiy event, i. e., the going 

 over of energy from one body to another or the transformation into 

 another form is conditioned (<?) not by the absolute quantity of 

 energy involved, but by the potential factors which ($) must be 

 opposed to each other in direction and be of different value, i. e., a 

 potential difference must exist ; (c) this potential difference must 

 not be compensated by a third potential, i. c., must be uncompen- 

 sated. Unless these three conditions are fulfilled a system re- 

 mains in its state of equilibrium ; if they are given between a 

 system and its environment work is done either on it or by it, 

 the amount of which depends upon the product of the total ex- 

 tensity into the potential difference. If such conditions are held 

 to exist wholly within a system so that change occurs in it, this 

 is equivalent to dividing the system into environment and smaller 

 system, the limitation of which in every case is arbitrary though 

 for practical purposes necessary. 



V. The direction of the energy transfer is always from the 

 higher to the lower potential, the one falling as much as the 

 other rises until equilibrium is reached. By this event however 

 a new potential difference between a second and a third energy 

 form may be created, and with the getting of equilibrium by this 

 a series of events is formed. Assuming the potential of a second 

 energy to have increased or to be continuously increasing, the re- 

 sult is that in the " Ausgleichung " between this second and a 

 third within the system, the second may be of the same intensity 

 at the end as at the beginning of this event, while the third 

 shows a rise in potential. This kind of event during which one 

 potential is kept constant is called isocyclic. In comparison to 

 the third the second potential presents here a relative fall. Con- 

 versely those events in which the extensity factor remains con- 

 stant and the intensity alone changes are called adiabatic. 

 Both kinds of changes can be brought about by manipulation of 

 a system which is isolated with the exception of the manipula- 

 tion. In natural events, however, there is always a change of 

 potential as well as of extensity. The process of getting equi- 

 librium is quite consistent with an absolute rise in two potentials 



