JoLY — A Pre-Material Condition of the Universe. 573 



grounds for assuming that matter existed in a certain condition 

 from all eternity. The essential activity of the powers ascribed to 

 it forbids the thought ; for all that we know, and, indeed, as the 

 conclusion from all that we know, primal matter began its progres- 

 sive changes on the morning of its existence." 



Finally, in reference to the hypothesis of a unique determina- 

 tion of matter after eternal duration in the past, it may not be 

 out of place to remind the reader of the extreme complexity which 

 modern research ascribes to the simplest chemical atoms. 



