 While it is the fundamental nature of a continuum to be undivided, it is nevertheless generally (although not invariably) held that any continuum admits of repeated or successive division without limit. This means that the process of dividing it into ever smaller parts will never terminate in an indivisible or an atom—that is, a part which, lacking proper parts itself, cannot be further divided. In a word, continua are divisible without limit or infinitely divisible. The unity of a continuum thus conceals a potentially infinite plurality. In antiquity this claim met with the objection that, were one to carry out completely—if only in imagination—the process of dividing an extended magnitude, such as a continuous line, then the magnitude would be reduced to a multitude of atoms—in this case, extensionless points—or even, possibly, to nothing at all. But then, it was held, no matter how many such points there may be—even if infinitely many—they cannot be “reassembled” to form the original magnitude, for surely a sum of extensionless elements still lacks  extension.[3]  Moreover, if indeed (as seems unavoidable) infinitely many points remain after the division, then, following Zeno, the magnitude may be taken to be a (finite) motion, leading to the seemingly absurd conclusion that infinitely many points can be “touched” in a finite time.