p Matter exists as a multitude of various bodies, or material formations, existencies or entities 99 connected with one another in a certain way. “The whole of nature accessible to us,” Engels wrote, “forms a system, an interconnected totality of bodies, and by bodies we understand here all material existences extending from stars to atoms....”  [99•1 

p A_material entity or body is only a part of matter, so it does not possess all the properties inherent in matter. Specifically, it is not eternal and infinite, it emerges only under absolutely definite conditions, it occupies a limited place in space, it exists for a certain period and then disappears, turning into other material entities. All the same, matter is eternal and spatially boundless. This testifies to the fact that the concept of matter is associated with the universe in general and with the entire totality of its constituent material entities.

p Material entities make up corresponding groups which form certain levels or stages in the development of matter. These stages have their specific qualitative characteristics. Engels wrote that “the discrete parts at various stages (ether atoms, chemical atoms, masses, heavenly bodies) are various nodal points which determine the various qualitative modes of existence of matter in general....”  [99•2 

Material entities that have a common origin and represent a stage in the development of matter from a lower to a higher level, make up a type 100 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1978/MLP519/20070711/199.tx" of matter. These are, for instance, electromagnetic and gravitational fields, electrons, protons, neutrons, atoms, molecules, living organisms, and human society.