LIFE AND DEATH. 



PREFACE. 



The following paper was first printed as an academic lecture 

 in the summer of the present year (1883), with the title ' Upon 

 the Eternal Duration of Life' ('Uberdie Ewigkeitdes Lebens'). 

 In now bringing it before a larger public in an expanded and 

 improved form, I have chosen a title which seemed to me to 

 correspond better with the present contents of the paper. 



The stimulus which led to this biological investigation was 

 given in a memoir by Gotte, in which this author opposes views 

 which I had previously expressed. Although such an origin 

 has naturally caused my paper to take the form of a repl}^, my 

 intention was not merely to controvert the views of my op- 

 ponent, but rather — using those opposed views as a starting- 

 point — to throw new light upon certain questions which demand 

 consideration ; to give additional support to thoughts which I 

 have previously expressed, and to penetrate, if possible, more 

 deepl}' into the problem of life and death. 



If, in making this attempt, the views of m}- opponent have 

 been severely criticized, it will be acknowledged that the criti- 

 cisms do not form the purpose of my paper, but onl}' the means 

 by which the way to a more correct understanding of the 

 problems before us may be indicated. 



A. W. 



Freiburg i. Breisgau, 

 Oct. 18, 1883. 



