1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 14… (1911)
“ The differential of a dependent variable such as y, or of a function of the independent variable x, is the product of the differential of x and the differential coefficient or derived function. It is important to observe that the differential coefficient is not to be defined as the ratio of differentials, but the ratio of differentials is to be defined as the previously introduced differential coefficient. The differentials are either finite differences, or are so much of certain finite differences as are useful for forming differential coefficients. ”
