THE ETHER OF DEMOCRITUS 



cepted doctrine : " Nothing is made of nothing, nor 

 can anything be resolved into that which is not. 

 Therefore, all that is, is composed of principles self- 

 existing of themselves. These principles are the atoms, 

 and the vacuum is the space between the atoms. . . . 

 The atoms are infinite in number, as space is in ca- 

 pacity. The atoms are of such tenuity that they 

 escape all perception. Their solidity renders them 

 indestructible. Their shape is infinitely varied. 

 These atoms are the primitive bodies which move in 

 that infinite space that admits of no relations of posi- 

 tion, indicated by such words as high, low, the middle, 

 or the extreme. The movement of the atoms has had 

 no commencement : it is from eternity. By it (the mo- 

 tion) the atoms are attracted, repulsed, are united, are 

 separated. From the unions and from the separa- 

 tion result the composition, and the decomposition of 

 all bodies. Bodies only differ among themselves by 

 the number, the shape and the reciprocal composition 

 or decomposition of the groups of atoms which com- 

 pose them. The worlds themselves disseminated in 

 infinite number throughout infinite space, whatever 

 may be their relative equality or inequality, have no 

 other origin, and are submitted to the same variations. 

 The rapid movement of the atoms is the soul which 

 penetrates these worlds as with the action of fire. 



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