The Daudel theory of loges is reexamined in the context of the 'stockholder' partitioning of molecular distributions of electrons. The loge probabilities are shown to satisfy the maximum entropy principle for assimilating the information contained in the N-electron distribution function. The 'stockholder' loges of atoms-in-molecules are introduced and the problem of the unbiased effective one-electron distribution of bonded atoms is addressed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.