ABSTRACT
In eighteenth century many scientists, particularly the physicists, protested strongly against the use of this term, fearing that its use might involve the recognition of a new vis occulta. This happened particularly in France, and St Geoffroy, at that time one of the chief authorities on chemical relationship, avoided its use. The generic concept refers to the domain of being, to a series of identical or similar individuals; law refers to the domain of happenings and the uniformities of the regularly recurring changes. A "law" is simply the summation of constant relations where the chance variations and the apparent irregularities in detail are disregarded. A U law" is therefore a summational fiction.
