THE DOCTRINE OF ENERGY 103 



primary qualities solidity, extension, figure, motion, 

 rest which they conceive to exist independently, 

 just as they enter into my Presentment. In 

 point of fact, however, these so-called primary 

 qualities are not the names of intuitions, but are 

 abstractions or generalisations of the most general 

 and necessary elements of my active Experience by 

 reference to which I mentally construct my world. 

 The transmutations of Energy are not a never- 

 repeated accidental kaleidoscope.. They proceed 

 according to constant, definite, measurable laws, 

 and though subordinate variations are infinite and 

 make up the details of my Presentment, the general 

 laws and conditions according to which all Energy 

 transmutes are definite, and constitute the general 

 features or qualities of my Experience, and these 

 are the so-called primary qualities of bodies regarded 

 in the light of the doctrine of Energy. 



The primary quality of extension, in particular, 

 is a conception resulting from the association of my 

 visual Presentment with my power of active exer- 

 tion, and the delusive tendency to regard this 

 quality as in some sense primarily and funda- 

 mentally real is due to the unconscious recognition 

 of the fact that it is in virtue of my power, or 

 association as an agent with the energetic system, 

 that I derive a suggestion of the real world 



