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Hokitika Guardian, 13 May 1933, Page 4

“One, hesitates tc suggest a possibility of a widespread mental crash, hut this may be realised ju-.t as much as the financial crash, which was the result of high pressure and unnatural mat .'.oCs cf doing business,” sail Sir Henry Grey, the famous surgeon, in his presidential address to the Rcyil Empire Society in Montreal. “The innate capacity of the modern brain is even more out of control at present than are the immense forces let loose bv its want of foresight and; which have brought about the present; sta.t- of l'ment-ble economic distress. I venture to draw attention to a phase of modern life which is of vast importance. lis the strain impo isd by modern progress recently so inordinately exaggerated

and accelerated—really proving too mi.oh for the human frame ? The tissues of the body, in ever increasing numbers, are not standing up too wed under the complexities and extravagance, cf life. . . The brain is composed of me mo t delicately ami highly organised tissues of the body. The tissues affected by the many organic diseases are coarse in compaiison. It seems absurd to imagine that the slow evolution of the brain capacity to its present marvellous anatomical and physiological structure and ability should or could begorfie accelerated in a generation so as : to permit the ordinary persons to cepe successfully with the phenomenally increased intensity and'speed of modern life in the past 20 years. One hesitates, however, to suggest a possibility of widespread mental crash. In spite of till these ominous and fatelfnl conditions, T have great faith that all will be well, and sooner than i« : expected—if we all try to use our influence in the right direction and all are prepared to make sacrifices