CHAPTER V. 

 The Constitution of Energy. 



( I ) Fundamental Energies : 



The " Indestructibility of Matter " has been called 

 the first great principle of science, and the " Inde- 

 structibility of Energy " the second. The basis of 

 universal existence is consequently not millions upon 

 millions of atoms merely existing, but all these atoms 

 in incessant motion. This atomic energy may be 

 divided into two kinds : (a) The fundamental energy 

 of the atoms as units or individuals. {b) The 

 fundamental energy of the atoms as groups of 

 individuals. That is, while each atom has an inherent 

 energy, this energy is not alike for all atoms. Each 

 elementary group has a characteristic energy of its 

 own. Thus, as there are seventy elements, there are 

 at least seventy fundamental kinds of energies. This 

 difference is a necessity in such a kaleidoscopic 

 universe as ours. For in either a universal similarity 

 or a universal diversity, chaos would have been 

 interminable. Some play as well as some restriction 

 was inevitable. 



