AND ITS SELF-CONSERVATION. 101 



relation to the finite that is, it would be limited ~by 'the 

 finite, in which case it would itself prove to be something 

 finite, and not the true infinite. 



Thus the infinite and the finite prove to be but the 

 more adequate aspects of what were previously called 

 continuous and discrete quantity. 



Bjit here something further suggests itself. It is this: 

 As the true infinite must include the finite within itself 

 as phases of itself,, then the infinite must be the compre- 

 hensive total of all reality. And as such it must be abso- 

 lutely equal with itself. It can be compared with noth- 

 ing else than itself, for it is itself the only reality. It is, 

 then, absolutely immeasurable by any finite standard, and 

 yet at the same time it is the eternally self-measured. 



Thus the finite is seen to constitute nothing else than 

 the endlessly varied modes of the self-measurement of the 

 true infinite. The world as a whole is, therefore, a 

 mighty process in which all that is finite or measur- 

 able is dissolved and absolutely fused in the infinite or 

 measureless. 



In this connection a significant hint is found to be 

 latent in the most elementary phase of mathematics. The 

 beginner learns that "once one is one." At a later stage 

 he learns something of the "powers "of numbers. He 

 learns that 2 multiplied by itself produces 4, while 1 

 multiplied by itself is still 1. Unity, he is assured, is 

 peculiar to itself in the fact that it remains unchanged, 

 however persistently it may be multiplied by itself. 



Surely that is a wonderful property wonderful, in- 

 deed, if true! Let one attempt its verification in prac- 

 tice and see what the result will be. If 1 is a line, then 

 1 x 1 is a surface still 1, it is true, but 1 having a quite 



