Allan Kardec-THE Spirit's Book_ The Principles of Spiritist Doctrine (1989)

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ALLAN KARDEC
only the result of modifications of one and the same primitive substance?
"Yes, undoubtedly; and that only exist in virtue of the disposition of the organs destined to
perceive them."
This principle Is proved by the fact that the qualities of bodies are not perceived by all persons In the
same manner. The same thing appears agreeable to the taste of one person, and disagreeable to that of
another. what appears blue to one person appears red to another. That which is a poison for some, is
wholesome for others.
33. Is the same elementary matter susceptible of undergoing all possible modifications and of
acquiring all possible qualities.'
"Yes; and it is, this fact which is implied in the saying that everything is in everything."¹
Oxygen, hydrogen, azote, carbon, and all the other bodies which we regard as simple, are only
modifications of one primitive substance. But the impossibility, in which we have hitherto found
ourselves, of arriving at this primitive matter otherwise than as an intellectual deduction, causes these
bodies to appear to us to be really elementary and we may, therefore, without Impropriety, continue for
the present to regard them as such.
- Does not this theory appear to bear out the opinion of those who admit only two essential
properties in matter, viz., force and movement, and who regard all the other Properties of
matter as being merely secondary effects of these, varying according to the intensity of the
force and the direction of the movement?
"That opinion is correct. But you must also add, according to the mode of molecular
arrangement; as you see exemplified, for instance, in an opaque body, that may become
transparent, and vice versa."
34. Have the molecules of matter a determinate form?'
"Those molecules undoubtedly have a form, but one which is not appreciable by your
organs."
- Is that form constant or variable?
"Constant for the primitive elementary molecules, but variable for the secondary molecules,
which are themselves only agglomerations of the primary ones; for what you term a molecule
is still very far from being the elementary molecule.
35. Is universal space infinite or limited?
Universal Space
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¹This principle explains a phenomenon familiar to all magnetisers, viz., the imparting to any given substance-to
water, for example-of very different qualities, such as specific flavours, or even the active qualities