HUMAN LIFE 



THE BIOLOGIST AND DEATH 



I HAVE had during the very writing 

 of this paper the distressing experience 

 of being brought, suddenly and dramat 

 ically, to face that problem of human life, 

 that to most of us is the greatest of 

 all its problems, I mean the problem of 

 death. One evening, on a train from 

 Chicago to Washington, returning with a 

 companion from a week s association with 

 hundreds of other scientific men, I spent 

 the hours between dinner and bedtime 

 discussing with my companion the possi 

 bilities of science in helping us to under 

 stand Nature and Life. He was a man 

 who had given thirty years, with all the 

 advantage of great ability and highly- 

 perfected training, to scientific study. 

 He was withal a most attractive and 

 lovable personality. We parted at the 

 evening s end with smiles of friendship 

 and mutual encouragement to push on 

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