THE CASE OF GRAVITATING PARTICLES. 365 



ing A to exist in that isolated state and without gravitating 

 force, and then B placed in relation to it, gravitation comes 

 on, as is supposed, on the part of both. Now, without try 

 ing to imagine how B, which had no gravitating force, can 

 raise up gravitating force in A ; and how A, equally without 

 force beforehand, can raise up force in B, still, to imagine it 

 as a fact done, is to admit a creation of force in both parti 

 cles ; and so to bring ourselves within the impossible conse 

 quences which have been already referred to. 



It may be said we cannot have an idea of one particle by 

 itself, and so the reasoning fails. For my part I can compre 

 hend a particle by itself just as easily as many particles ; and 

 though I cannot conceive the relation of a lone particle to 

 gravitation, according to the limited view which is at present 

 taken of that force, I can conceive its relation to something 

 which causes gravitation, and with which, whether the parti 

 cle is alone, or one of a universe of other particles, it is al 

 ways related. But the reasoning upon a lone particle does 

 not fail ; for as the particles can be separated, we can easily 

 conceive of the particle B being removed to an infinite dis 

 tance from A, and then the power in A will be infinitely di 

 minished. Such removal of B will be as if it were annihi 

 lated in regard to A, and the force in A will be annihilated 

 at the same time ; so that the case of a lone particle and that 

 where different instances only are considered become one, be 

 ing identical with each other in their consequences. And as 

 removal of B to an infinite distance is as regards A annihila 

 tion of B, so removal to the smallest degree is, in principle, 

 the same thing with displacement through infinite space ; the 

 smallest increase in distance involves annihilation of power ; 

 the annihilation of the second particle, so as to have A alone, 

 involves no other consequence in relation to gravity ; there is 

 difference in degree, but no difference in the character of the 

 result. 



It seems hardly necessary to observe, that the same line 



