Okay. ## \mathbf{f}(\mathbf{x}) ## really is a vector function, and ##\mathbf{f}'(\mathbf{x})## is its differential, that is, a linear transformation (a matrix). The middle term must in fact be ## | [\mathbf{f}'(\mathbf{y}) - \mathbf{f}'(\mathbf{x})] \mathbf{e}_j \cdot \mathbf{u}_i|##, and because of the scalar product property I have already mentioned (see Theorem 1.37 on page 16, part (d)), ## | [\mathbf{f}'(\mathbf{y}) - \mathbf{f}'(\mathbf{x})] \mathbf{e}_j \cdot \mathbf{u}_i| \le| [\mathbf{f}'(\mathbf{y}) - \mathbf{f}'(\mathbf{x})] \mathbf{e}_j |##, because ## \mathbf{u}_i ## is a unit vector, as remarked in the proof; this is the middle term given in the book, and the next inequality follows from definition (c) on page 208.