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[893e] on one axis1 and sometimes, by revolving, on several axes. And whenever one such object meets another, if the other is at rest, the moving object is split up; but if they collide with others moving to meet them from an opposite direction, they form a combination which is midway between the two.” “Yes, I affirm that these things are so, just as you describe.” “Further, things increase when combined and decrease when separated in all cases where the regular constitution2 of each persists; but if this does not remain, then both these conditions cause them to perish. And what is the condition which must occur

1 i.e. with a forward gliding motion, as opposed to rolling forward (like a car wheel).

2 i.e. as solid, liquid, or gaseous substance.

Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 10 & 11 translated by R.G. Bury. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1967 & 1968.

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