90 THE WORLD-ENERGY 



into solid spheres must, through an increasing strain 

 between attraction and repulsion, develop as a phase of 

 that strain a correspondingly increasing tension in and 

 between the local centers of force constituting the sub- 

 stance of the sphere, and that increase of such local ten- 

 sion is the real secret of the development of the so-called 

 chemical elements. It is now to be added to this that 

 the farther this process of condensation has advanced in 

 any given portion of the developing system the greater 

 will be not only the actual number of these elements, but 

 also of the actual number and complexity of the combina- 

 tions of these elements. All chemical compounds appear 

 as manifestations of the special phase of attraction known 

 as <( affinity." At the same time chemical decomposition 

 also appears as a negative aspect of chemical combination; 

 for the separation or dissolution of a compound may be 

 due to the approach of an element between which and 

 one of the elements of the compound there is a still 

 stronger attraction or "affinity" than exists between the 

 elements already in combination, That is, the breaking 

 up of an existing compound may be involved in the very 

 process of the formation of a new compound. One degree 

 of attraction is annulled in its qualitative result by the 

 interposition of a greater degree of attraction, bringing 

 about a different result. 



On the other hand, the phase of repulsion, as such, 

 must tend toward the complete disintegration of all com- 

 pounds. As the separative phase of force it still further 

 tends to dissolve all solids and to dissipate all liquids into 

 vapor, and again to still further attenuate the vapor until 

 it ceases to belong to the type of ponderable matter at all, 

 and thus comes to exist in the state of imponderable 



