XXXIII. 



TOe problem of 



THE air has been tolerably full, of late, of echoes and 

 re-echoes of a very antiquated question namely, that 

 which inquires whether life is worth living. If one 

 may judge of the importance of an inquiry by its age, 

 this question may almost claim precedence of all other 

 matters which have interested mankind. There is 

 something highly interesting to the scientific mind, I 

 think, in such a controversy ; because, first of all, it 

 seems to me the problem of life being worth living 

 must be solved, and can be solved only by the aid 

 of science. 



Then, also, it becomes clear that public thought is 

 by no means quite so selfish an affair as we are often 

 tempted to believe. We are having the question, lt Is 

 Life Worth Living ? " discussed by the people, as I 

 write ; and that folks should spare time to indite their 

 views and opinions on such a matter, in this bustling 

 age, is truly a sign of the times from which one might 

 argue that disinterestedness and unselfishness are not, 

 after all, either unknown or unpractised in modern life. 



Yet throughout the controversy or symposium, as 

 it might better be termed (I have read the contribu- 

 tions of wisdom and experience with care, as a plea- 

 sant exercise on a Continental holiday), one misses a 



