ii UNITY" IN MATTER 53 



why it must be laid down as an axiom, will 

 appear if I go back a little, and entering more 

 fully into the subject, tell you that certain bodies 

 are continuous, and certain formed by a union of 

 different elements. 1 Continuity may be defined as 2 

 unbroken union of parts one with another. Unity 

 is continuity without a break ; it is the contact of 

 two bodies joined to one another. There can be no 

 shadow of doubt that of the bodies around us which 

 we see and handle, and which are either perceived 

 or perceive, certain are composite. They are so 3 

 either through nexus or through mere accumulation ; 

 take as illustrations a rope, corn, a ship. Again, 

 there are bodies that are not composite, as a tree, a 

 stone. You must, therefore, grant that likewise 

 among the objects that elude sense, and are grasped 

 only by thought, some are possessed of unity 2 

 [while some arise from junction of parts]. See 

 how careful I am of your susceptibilities. If I 4 

 had chosen to employ the jargon of philosophy, 

 I might have got out of the difficulty by merely 

 saying "united bodies." You must, in turn, be duly 

 grateful for this concession to your weakness ! What 

 am I driving at ? This : if at any time I speak 

 of "unity " in this connection, bear in mind that it 

 is not used of number, but has reference to the 

 composition of a body that coheres through no 

 external aid, but by its own unity. To this category 

 the atmosphere belongs. 



1 This difficult passage, according to Gercke's text, runs : You will under- 

 stand the meaning of this, and the necessity for my axiomatic position if I 

 take up the argument a little farther back, and say that there is one kind 

 of body possessing unity, another that is continuous, and another that is 

 formed by junction. For junction is the contact of two bodies joined one to 

 another, continuity is the uninterrupted joining of parts one to another, unity 

 is continuity without junction (i.e. without a break). 



'- That is, are not composite. 



