April 20, 19 16] 



NATURE 



163 



observation and experiment, and it is pointed out 

 that since the true sign of fatig-ue is diminished 

 capacity, the measurement of output gives the 

 most direct test of fatigue, and thereby also serves 

 as a criterion of success in devising conditions of 

 work which shall avoid fatigue. 



No works manager should consider that the 

 conditions of work are satisfactory in his factory 

 or department simply because these conditions 

 have been observed for many years. Progress 

 can only be attained by the constant maintaining 

 of an experimental attitude of mind and the actual 

 institution of experiments in the conditions of 

 work themselves. Such measurements of output 

 I should be recorded for groups of workers as well 

 as for the individual worker. Information on 

 individual output is often valuable. It may reveal 

 ithe adoption by certain individuals of particular 

 I habits of manipulation which tend to avoid fatigue, 

 I and may then be taught to the other workers. 

 Moreover, these tests of individual capacity give 

 lan opportunity of rearrangement of workers and 

 itheir assignment to jobs for which they are par- 

 Iticularly fitted. It is mentioned that astonishing 

 iresults, bringing advantage both to employers and 

 !emplo\ed, have been gained in other countries by 

 ithe careful selection of individuals for particular 

 itasks, based not upon the impressions of fore- 

 men, but upon the results of experiment. 



We gather from the report as a whole that in 

 nearly all cases the hours of labour have been too 

 long. This is especially marked in the stress 

 [brought about by the present war. This undue 

 lengthening of hours causes not an increase, but 

 a diminution of output, and gives rise to staleness 

 and a state of lethargy and indifference often 

 Accompanied by a craving, for change and excite- 

 Inent, for which in some cases alleviation may be 

 jiought in the undue use of alcohol. 



The Committee points out the necessity for a 



:o-operation of the workers with the management 



n experiments to determine the optimum rela- 



ions of spells or shifts of work to rest intervals 



ind to holidays. They remark that it is not sur- 



)rising that a tradition of slowed labour has arisen 



mong workers as a kind of physiological self- 



•rotection against the excessive hours of work 



/hich have been imposed upon them — hours which 



re in excess of those suitable for maximal 



fficiency. This tradition of slacking will make 



real difficulty in the endeavour to improve the 



'orkers' conditions while maintaining or increas- 



ig output. Thus it is mentioned that in one fac- 



pry, a shop staffed entirely by new hands after 



ix months produced 13,000 articles per week as 



gainst the 5,000 for which the sheds were de- 



gned. This output was not approached by the 



der hands in the other shops. Apparently it is 



3t easy to change a customary rhythm of work 



hich has been imposed automatically as a method 



unconscious self-preservation. 



In view of the necessity for periods of rest, it is 



>t surprising to find that the Committee un- 



servedly condemn the practice of working with- 



'it a Sunday rest, or, at any rate, one day's rest 



: the seven. They quote one foreman to the effect 



NO. 2425, VOL. 97] 



that Sunday work gave "six days' output for 

 seven days' work on eight days' pay." Here 

 again the Sunday was a period of slacking, neces- 

 sary for the continued work of the men, but a 

 pure waste of time so far as the management was 

 concerned. 



It is impossible in this notice to give an ade- 

 quate account of the sound reasoning contained 

 in this Memorandum. We may only hope that it 

 will be read and digested by employers and labour 

 leaders alike. Only by their co-operation along 

 scientific lines can we expect to hold our own 

 and rebuild our financial position in the acute 

 commercial and industrial struggle that will follow 

 this great wa". E. H. S. 



THE SHORTAGE OF DYESTUFFS.^ 



THE Society of Chemical Industry has recently 

 issued a reprint of five papers read before 

 its New York Section on the manner in which 

 the United States is dealing with the shortage 

 of dyestuffs. These papers are of particular 

 interest in view of the general similarity pre- 

 sented by the industrial problem in Great Britain 

 and in the States. In both countries the legal 

 profession "governs," in both the scientific 

 "expert" finds an easy prey in a wealthy but 

 uninformed investing public, and in both indus- 

 trial development is heavily taxed by parasitic 

 professions which add nothing to the national 

 store of wealth, knowledge, and productiveness. 

 Under these conditions the United States, like 

 Great Britain, has become largely dependent 

 upon Germany for her supplies of fine chemicals, 

 and the reprint under consideration indicates 

 that much the same remedies for this pathological 

 condition are suggested in both countries. Dr. 

 E. E. Pratt tells again the well-known tale of 

 the sale of European aniline under cost price in 

 America for the purpose of killing the Benzol 

 Products Company, and several writers refer to 

 the possible danger of " dumping " after the war 

 and to the necessity of legislative prevention of 

 this operation. Dr. T. H. Norton, whilst indi- 

 cating the determination of American industrials 

 to build up a native manufacture of coal-tar pro- 

 ducts without prolonged discussion of tariff 

 issues, is p>erhaps weak in suggesting that useful 

 assistance may be obtained from the Swiss firms ; 

 America is surely possessed of so much natural 

 talent and self-reliance as will suffice for the 

 establishment of a national industry without foreign 

 help. Dr. Norton, however, makes one sugges- 

 tion which seems novel, and which we should 

 do well to act upon, not so much in the interests 

 of the colour manufacturer as in those of the 

 dyer and consumer; he proposes that the degree 

 of purity and the methods of use of dyestuffs 

 should be standardised by a central bureau. Such 

 a control upon the purity of colours, and also 

 upon modes of application to the various fibres 

 and fabrics, would tend towards economy, would 

 assist in diminishing the unnecessarily large 



1 Tbe DyestuflF Situation in the United States. Journal of the Society of 

 Chemical Industry, December 15, 1915 (No. 23, vol. xxxir.). 



