For he loves me, and I would be true.”
The first stroke of the Ave Maria broke off the last chord of the song, and there was silence in the room till the bells had sung their evening chorus.
Matter. VI.
Constitution of bodies.—We have hitherto explained and vindicated those facts and principles which experience and reason point out to us as the true foundations of a sound philosophical theory of matter. We are now prepared to examine the much-vexed question of the constitution of bodies; nor are we deterred from our undertaking by the very common belief that the essence of matter is, and will ever be, an impenetrable mystery; for although the different schools of philosophy have long disputed about the subject without being able to agree in their conclusions, we are confident that these very conclusions, every one of which contains a portion of truth, will afford us the means of reaching the true and complete solution of the question.
The opinions at present entertained by philosophers about the constitution of matter may be reduced to the three following:
Some affirm that the first constituents of natural bodies are the first matter and the substantial form, as explained by Aristotle and by his followers. This view, which reigned supreme for centuries, we shall call the scholastic solution of the question.
Others affirm, on the contrary, that the first constituents of bodies are simple elements, or points of matter, acting on each other from a certain distance, and thus forming dynamical systems of different natures according to their number, powers, and geometrical arrangement. This second view, which, after Boscovich, found a great number of advocates, we shall call the dynamic solution of the question.
Finally, others affirm that the first constituents of bodies are molecules, or chemical atoms. This view, based entirely on chemical considerations, originated with Dalton, of Manchester, early in the present century, and it was very favorably received by all men of science as the true interpretation of chemical facts. This third view we shall call the atomic solution of the question.
The investigation of the grounds on which these three solutions are supported will soon convince us that none of them can be entirely rejected, as each of them has some foundation in truth. To begin with the scholastic solution, all true philosophers know that God alone is a pure act; whence it follows that all creatures essentially consist of act and potency. This act and this potency, when there is question of material things, are called the substantial form and the matter. It is therefore an evident truth that material substance is essentially constituted of matter and substantial form. Against this doctrine nothing can be objected by the advocates of the dynamic or of the atomic solution.