272 MAN AND THE WORLD. 



This abstract Matter, moreover, stands in a 

 curious relation to the equally abstract conception 

 of Force. According to the ordinary scientific 

 doctrine, which ignores the metaphysical character 

 of Matter, forgets that it is an abstraction, and treats 

 it as a reality, Matter is the substratum or vehicle 

 of Force. All the sensible qualities of Matter are 

 due to forces, gravitative, cohesive, repulsive, chem- 

 ical, electrical, or to motions (like Heat, Sound, 

 Light, etc.), or " motive forces." Matter itself, 

 therefore, is left as the unknown and unknowable 

 substratum of Force. There is no reason why the 

 term Matter should appear from one end of a sci- 

 entific account of the world to the other. It is not 

 required to explain the appearance of anything we 

 can experience, and is merely a metaphysical fiction 

 designed to provide forces with a vehicle. 



Hence the idea easily suggested itself to scientists 

 to drop out the totally otiose conception of Matter, 

 and to regard the *' atoms " of physics as Force- 

 centres. But though physics could perfectly well 

 employ such force- centres, their nature requires 

 further elucidation. It is impossible^ in the first 

 place, to regard them, with Faraday, as mateinal 

 points, devoid of magnitude. For this would not 

 only stultify the whole aim of the theory by reintro- 

 ducing Matter, but involve the further difficulty that 

 as the material points would be Infinitely small, the 

 velocity which any force, however small, would Im- 

 part to them, would be infinite, and they would rush 

 about the universe with infinite velocities, and never 

 remain long enough anywhere for their existence to 

 become known. If, on the other hand, the force- 

 centres are really points, i.e., mathematical points 

 " without parts and without magnitude," it is diffi- 



