in the course of a century, grown into a noble city of 300,000 inhabitants. Planned on generous lines in accordance with the written instructions of Raffles, it impresses the stranger as do few other Eastern ports. Wide streets flanked with noble buildings devoted to public and private objects, a spacious harbour crowded with shipping from every part of the world, and a dock for refitting ships which is the largest in Asia, are among its most promi-v nent features. As befits its position as a great trade entrepôt, its population from the first has been a cosmopolitan one. The earliest census (1826) included among its elements-to adopt the official classification-Europeans, Armenians, native Christians, Arabs, Chinese, Malays, Bugis (natives of the Celebes), Javanese, Bengalis, natives of the Coromandel Coast, Coffries (ex-slaves) and Siamese. To-day the city has a still more varied population, but the Chinese remain what they were at the first census, the predominating race commercially as well as numerically. Hard-working, law-abiding, thoroughly well affected to British rule, they constitute a most valuable force in the settlement, and indeed in the whole of British Malaya. It is a pleasant fact, and one which would have gratified Raffles exceedingly, that one of the most cordial and appreciative of the addresses of congratulation presented to the Governor of the Straits Settlements on the occasion of the centennial celebrations in February last emanated from this community.

Singapore profited greatly by the war between Great Britain and China, when its use as an advanced military base revealed its strategical value. The establishment of direct steam communication with England by the P. & O. Company in 1845 served to strengthen and consolidate the ties then formed. Thereafter, its progress was uninterrupted. In 1850, the trade was worth 5,336,833., and by 1860 had increased nearly twofold; five years later a further substantial increase was registered, the figure for that year being 14,492,4707. Thus, within half a century of the occupation, Raffles' conception of a great trade entrepôt was realised.

But the chief value of Singapore is that it has directed Imperial policy and action into a channel in which it has carried the national interest and prestige to a point of successful accomplishment which they could not Vol. 232.- No 461.

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otherwise have reached. As was pointed out by the writer in this Review (October 1917), the influence accruing to us from the occupation of Singapore has enabled us to go a long way towards the creation of a New India in the domain known by the generic term 'British Malaya.' The trade of this region in the year 1917 was valued at 145,000,000l., the highest total ever recorded, and one exceeding the total foreign trade of India less than twenty years ago. Indeed, there are few parts of the Empire which are potentially more valuable. British Malaya has vast trading interests, represented by the plantation rubber industry, whose output represents over seventy per cent. of the world's consumption of cultivated rubber, and by the tin mines, which yield about half the tin used on the globe. Coconuts, furnishing an important basic element in the manufacture of soap and of the indispensable margarine of our domestic economy, are extensively grown in a climate and environment peculiarly suited to them. Tungsten is found here in deposits of exceptional richness, together with molybdenum and other rare metals used in modern manufacture. Coal, too, is being worked under promising conditions, while gold has been mined in fair quantities, though, so far, the mining has not been brilliantly successful in a commercial sense. Generally, the peninsula is remarkably productive; and, as a large part of it has been only imperfectly explored, the future undoubtedly offers still greater possibilities.

There are four well-marked periods in the rise of British Malaya: (1) from the founding of Singapore in 1819 to the establishment of Crown Colony Government in 1867; (2) from 1867 to 1874, the date of the Treaty of Pangkor, which established direct relations with the Malayan States of the peninsula and led ultimately to the creation of the Federated Malay States; (3) from 1874 to 1908, when the Anglo-Siamese Agreement was concluded, by which British influence was extended to the States of Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis and Trengganu, hitherto in different degrees under Siamese rule; (4) from 1909 to the present day, a period in which British interests on the peninsula have been consolidated by the strengthening of the ties with the non-federated States. Not the least interesting development of the

later periods has been the execution of an ambitious programme of trunk railways in the peninsula, linking up Bangkok, the Siamese capital, with Penang, Malacca and Singapore, and furnishing arterial lines which will be of the utmost importance in the probably not distant future, when the railway system of India is extended from Burmah southwards. Associated with this railway enterprise has been a wise policy of road construction and harbour development. Through these agencies, the Empire's shipping has directly and enormously benefited, since nowhere in the Empire has trade shown a greater disposition to follow the flag.

But we cannot reckon in terms of commerce alone the advantages which have accrued from Raffles' farseeing policy. Over those lands which in his day and even a half-century later were a welter of anarchy the 'breath of a new civilisation has been breathed. Out of the semi-pirate States, which in old days lived by 'the good old rule, the simple plan,' has been evolved in the Federated Malay States an administrative entity with a trade for 1917 of 40,467,1967. and a revenue of 7,647,8721., and a stable and ordered federal Government which is working smoothly on lines of civilisation and progress. Over the entire peninsula, over federated and nonfederated States alike, broods the Pax Britannica. A great and brilliant future undoubtedly awaits this onetime Eastern Alsatia; but, even as it is seen to-day, in the stage of yet early development, it is a transcendent example of the genius of the British race for bringing strange peoples into paths of peace and order. The spectacle which it affords lends a significance to the centenary just passed which will not be missed by any lover of the Empire. It is a rare tribute to the statesmanlike insight of a man who dared and suffered much in the cause of his country, and who perhaps builded even better than he knew, when he conjured up out of the rocky wastes of the almost deserted island in the Straits of Malacca the splendid city through whose confines passes annually a volume of shipping greater than that associated with any other port in the East save Hongkong.

ARNOLD WRIGHT.

Art. 2.-WAR AND MENTAL DISORDERS.

IN ordinary times the public conscience is somewhat tender in the matter of experiments performed on animals; and, in so far as this makes for a check upon the infliction of unnecessary pain, such a feeling is of distinct value. In time of war, however, a vast amount of material is provided for scientific investigation by the injuries which man inflicts upon his brother-man; and, whatever our opinions on the ethics of war may be, they need not prevent us from deriving what scientific benefit we can from the study of the results brought about by war stresses and injuries, with the object in view of improving our methods in regard to the prevention and cure of disease.

The tendency in evolution is towards differentiation and to specialisation; but in the individual, as in the community, the specialised part is only a portion of a complex organisation. In the matter of nervous disorders the latter fact is too often lost sight of and there is, consequently, a lack of cohesion in regard to our knowledge of these disorders looked at as a whole. The result has been that the neurologist and the alienist have considered the question from remotely different points of view; and it is only slowly becoming apparent that the divorce between them is not absolute. It might almost be expressed by saying that the one takes structure as his study, while the other confines himself to investigating function. Only by a system which comprehends both these methods of procedure can any satisfactory results be obtained. It is to be hoped that the wealth of material in regard to nervous disorders which war has produced will serve to demonstrate that, whatever the symptoms, these conditions are due to interferences of varying degrees of intensity with the nervous substructure. The differentiation of disorders into functional and organic, though useful for descriptive purposes, has been pernicious in so far as it has served to obscure the fact that there is no appreciable hiatus between the basal changes which give rise to one set of symptoms or to the other.

In considering the effects of the various stresses associated with a state of war, it is essential to remember

that they are acting upon individuals. Only by bearing this in mind can we begin to understand why different patients who have been subjected to apparently similar stresses exhibit varying symptoms. It is obvious that a greater force is necessary to overcome a robust and well-trained man than is required to upset one who is poorly developed. Expressed in that way, the statement is so simple that its truth becomes at once apparent. Yet if it is borne steadily in mind it will serve to make it clear how it is that one organisation subjected to a certain strain breaks down, while another in similar circumstances either does not become obviously impaired, or, if it does, responds to the stimulus in a different way. The reaction is dependent not only on the stimulus but also on the condition of the person to whom it is applied. The same individual will, too, react differently at different times; for variations will be brought about within the organism as a result of the conditions to which it is exposed.

During life the body is constantly in a condition of unstable equilibrium. In the waking period, especially when work is being done, there is an output of energy which is in excess of the amount which is being stored. A resting stage is, therefore, necessary in order to allow of this waste being made good; and during sleep the tissues have an opportunity of recuperating. The maintenance of consciousness is dependent upon the functioning of certain cerebral areas and upon the integrity of the nerve-cells which compose them. On overaction of these cells, whether as a result of stimuli coming from within the body (for example, abdominal pain or an aching tooth) or from without (such as loud and persistent noise), there is not only wasting in these cells but also in the body generally. The mere deprivation of sleep may, if long contiuued, have extremely prejudicial results. Those who carried out tortures in olden times were well aware of this; and it was once an all too common practice to keep so-called witches awake for long periods in order that, when their brains were overcome by fatigue, they would confess to having committed the most incredible acts. There is, however, provision made against undue prolongation of the wakeful periods; and, after a time, the need for sleep