46 THE WORLD-ENERGY 



And yet, once more, suppose the disc itself to be 

 revolved about one of its diameters., so as to describe a 

 sphere. The described sphere would be a material one, 

 such that every section through a great circle of the 

 sphere would present a- set of relations identical with 

 that of the revolved disc. We should then have not 

 merely an indefinite repetition of the web of relations 

 existing in the disc, but also a wholly new and immeasur- 

 ably more complicated network of relations, consisting of 

 lines of repulsion between each particle and every other 

 particle throughout the entire sphere. Each particle 

 would be repelled by every other particle; that is, every 

 particle within the sphere would be repelled in all 

 directions. Hence it would be driven toward as well 

 as from every other particle. And, still further, each 

 particle, as exerting repulsion in all directions, is driven 

 in upon itself from all sides; so that the more intense 

 and complicated the repulsion exerted by it, with only 

 so much the greater energy must it concentrate upon 

 itself. 



Finally, let the sphere since there is no necessary limit 

 to its volume be regarded as co-extensive with space ; 

 that is, let it be regarded as infinite. The repulsion of 

 part for part would then necessarily react in such way that 

 the tendency to concentration would, in the total quantity 

 of matter, exactly balance the tendency toward expansion. 

 In other words, the " repulsion" must prove in its very 

 development as repulsion to constantly unfold into its own 

 opposite, and to be in its very nature attraction no less than 

 repulsion. For "attraction" is the name we give to the 

 inherent tendency of matter toward aggregation or con- 

 centration upon itself. 



