Historical Relations 143 



could not create something greater than itself. 1 herefore the con- 

 ception of infinite perfection transcending humanity must have been 

 put into our minds by infinite perfection itself ; that is, by God. 



We may now turn to his conceptions of the material universe. 

 The form of the w^orld is inevitable, in the sense that, if God had 

 created more worlds, " provided only God had established certain 

 laws of nature and had lent them his concurrence to act as is their 

 wont, the physical features of these worlds would inevitably form 

 as they have done on our earth." He accepted the probability of 

 creation of matter as a momentary act, but held that this act of 

 creation was the same as that by which creation is now sustained. 



Descartes regards the universe as infinite and devoid of any 

 empty space. The primary quality of matter is extension, but 

 there are also the secondary and derived qualities of divisibility 

 and mobility, which are created by God. We may Connect the 

 assertion of Descartes that divisibility and mobility are secondary 

 qualities with the formulation of the law that matter, in so far as 

 it is unaffected by extraneous forces, remains in motion or at rest. 



He regarded matter as uniform, i.e., made of the same basic 

 stuff, though divided and figured in endless variety. Matter is 

 closely packed, without any vacuum. Therefore the movement 

 of any part of matter produces the movement of all matter. It 

 thus follows that throughout the universe there are circular 

 vortices of material particles that vary in size and in velocity. If 

 one considers any limited part of the universe, as the particles in it 

 whirl round in their vortices they get their corners rubbed off. 

 These being rubbed finer and finer become a minutely divided 

 dust which tends to centripetal action. This fine dust is the first 

 matter and forms the sun and stars. The spherical globules whose 

 corners have thus been rubbed off to form the first matter will have 

 on the contrary a centrifugal action, and will {ormihe second matter, 

 which constitutes the atmosphere or firmament enveloping the 

 first matter. The centrifugal tendency of the second matter pro- 

 duces rays of light which come in waves from the sun or the stars 

 to our eyes. There remains the third matter, formed from those 

 parts of the fine dust which get detained and twisted on their way 

 to the centre of the vortex and therefore settle round the edge of the 

 sun or star, like froth or foam. This third matter can be recog- 

 nised as the sun-spots. Sometimes this third matter melts in the 

 surrounding firmament, sometimes it forms a crust for the sun or star. 



