Note 1 — VOLUME VIII slice III Destructor to Diameter
Reading edition
The expression, a linear function, is here used in its narrowest sense, a linear function without constant term; what is meant is that the determinant is in regard to the elements a, a′, a″, ... of any column or line thereof, a function of the form Aa + A′a′ + A″a″ + ... without any term independent of a, a′, a″ ...