144 THE WORLD-ENEKGY 



At first view, indeed, this would seem to involve the 

 absolute impossibility of motion. And it is not to be 

 disguised, that even from the standpoint we have here 

 reached the existence of motion must once more seem to 

 be something fairly inexplicable; and this for the reason 

 that in itself matter is wholly destitute of the principle 

 of motion a reason quite different from and far more 

 valid than any of those given in the Zenonian dialectic. 

 Doubtless, however, we may shortly be able to advance 

 to a standpoint from which the contradiction will be seen 

 to be not without its reasonable solution. 



Meanwhile we may tentatively insist upon the neces- 

 sary interrelation between attraction and repulsion, as 

 at least possibly variable locally. Indeed, as appeared 

 in our investigation concerning this interrelation, there 

 must be, as its necessary outcome, an infinitude of force- 

 centers throughout space. 



So, also, each of these force-centers must still be 

 related to that is, must extend out so as to include and 

 thus lay hold upon every other force-center. But this 

 can only mean that the given force-center is in reality 

 nothing else than the focus of a force-sphere extending 

 indefinitely outward on all sides and hence becoming 

 more and more attenuated in proportion to the distance 

 from the center. 



The degree of action and reaction between any two 

 force-spheres must then depend upon the distance be- 

 tween their centers. More precisely, such interaction, 

 in its direct and most important phase, can take place 

 only through a single direction, joining their centers. 

 And further, each sphere, so far as its action on the 

 other is concerned, may be considered to terminate in a 



