1. Boltzmann's differentio-integral equation for the molecular velocity distribution function in a perfect gas forms the natural starting-point for a mathematical treatment of the kinetic theory of gases. The classical results of Maxwell and Boltzmann in this theory are well known. They include the proof that, for simple gases, i.e. those in which the molecules have only the three translational degrees of freedom, the only stationary and spatially homogeneous solution is the one which corresponds to the Maxwellian distribution.