70 LIVING PLANTS 



philosophy of Lester F. Ward, who says that 

 "the supph^ of tissue is attended with pleas- 

 ure," and "the destruction of tissue results in 

 pain" (Monist, v, 253). But both these ob- 

 servations, it seems to nie, carry the analysis 

 too far. I am inclined to agree with Paul 

 Carus, w^ho says that although "It is gener- 

 ally assumed that pleasure is an indication 

 of growth and pain of decay, it has never 

 been proven, and after a careful consideration 

 of this theory I have come to the conclusion 

 that it is based upon an error. Growth is 

 rarely accompanied with pleasure and decay 

 is mostly painless." He goes on to remark 

 that the most optimistic philosophers look 

 upon pleasure as positive and pain as nega- 

 tive, while the greatest pessimist, Scho]3en- 

 hauer, turns the tables and says pain is posi- 

 tive and pleasure is negative. He adds as his 

 own opinion that "an impartial considera- 

 tion of the subject will show that both pleas- 

 ure and pain are positive. Pain is felt when- 

 ever disturbances take place, pleasure is felt 

 whenever wants are satisfied" (Monist, i, 

 559). This definition accords so well with 

 the usual mode of thinking and use of terms 

 that I deem it unnecessary to elaborate it. If 

 now it be admitted that pain results from a 

 more or less violent interruption or altera- 

 tion of the normal functional state of the or- 



