CHAPTER V 



RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY 



The aphorism sometimes encountered, that 

 " whatever properties appertain to a whole 

 must essentially belong to the parts of which 

 it is composed," is a fallacy. A property can 

 be possessed by an aggregation of atoms 

 which no atom possesses in the slightest 

 degree. Those who think otherwise are 

 unacquainted with mathematical laws other 

 than simple proportion or some continuous 

 or additive functions ; they are not aware of 

 discontinuities ; they are not experienced in 

 critical values, above which certain con- 

 ditions obtain, while below them there is 

 suddenly nothing. To refute them an 

 instance must suffice : 



A meteoric stone may seem to differ from 

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