Page:The Philosophy of Creation.djvu/128

 decreased or refined until it becomes the other; but they form a series of three discrete degrees. Yet each on its own plane is continuous. One may differ from another in having more patriotism or affection, or one may have broader knowledge and more thoughts than another, or one may do greater work. These differences in degree on their respective planes are simply more or less of the same thing, and are continuous degrees; but the planes themselves form a series of discrete degrees. Discrete degrees are differentiated degrees of altitude, related as cause and effect, and nonconvertible one into another.

Continuous degrees can be perceived by the senses, but it is not so with discrete degrees. Yet what discrete degrees are and how they exist in a series can be shown from things that are seen. The physiologist knows that minute fibers are clustered together forming larger ones, and that these larger ones are collected to form the single muscle. The same is true of the nerves. Minute fibers are collected into larger ones, and these larger ones unite to form the nerves. It is similar with the organs and viscera of the body. Discrete degrees and their existence in a series are illustrated also, but less perfectly, by the threefold order constituted by the wood, the inner bark,