[I]t is our main purpose not to limit our discussion to thermal equilibrium, but to explore the relationship of this probabilistic formulation to the… - Ludwig Boltzmann

But how can the molecules of a behave as rigid bodies? Are they not composed of smaller atoms? Probably they are; but the of their internal s is transformed into progressive and rotatory motion so slowly, that when a gas is brought to a lower temperature the molecules may retain for days, or even for years, the higher vis viva of their internal vibrations corresponding to the original temperature. This transference of energy... takes place so slowly that it cannot be perceived amid the fluctuations of temperature of the surrounding bodies.

I pointed out in the second part of my paper... that my Minimum Theorem, as well as the so-called , are only theorems of probability. The Second Law can never be proved mathematically by means of the equations of dynamics alone.

The first question I answer in the affirmative, but the second belongs not so much to ordinary physics (let us call it orthophysics) as to... metaphysics.