320 REPORTS ON THE STATfi OP SCIENCE.— 1915. 



of most individuals to automatise processes that are uniform and 

 frequent. 'This means,' to quote Weber, 'that with frequent repeti- 

 tion an abihty is produced to perform an operation even without 

 any conscious use of the will and of the power of attention for 

 the requisite separate functions of the psycho-physical system, and 

 finally the operation actually succeeds better without any effort of 

 attention at all.' Further, according to Weber, automatisation seems 

 to be helped to a large exfent by ' rhythmisation ' of the work, ' because 

 this considerably facilitates the carrying out of the typical reactions 

 without articulated will-impulse.' Great regularity as well as great 

 repetition (uniformity) and great frequency is important, then, accord- 

 ing to Weber, in increasing ease of work, and the time-distribution 

 of the output of stamp-pressing and apparatus-covering which have 

 these characteristics would seem to bear out this contention. Fatigue 

 seems, except in the penultimate hour of the day, to be more than 

 counterbalanced by a sort of prolonged practice. But to say, there- 

 fore, that monotony would decrease fatigue would be to fall 

 into the confusion of terms pointed out in Section I. a. It is only 

 when so-called monotonous work does not evoke monotony that it 

 becomes less fatiguing. 



Turning next to the accident distribution in the uniform process 

 of stamp -pressing (Diagram II. and Table IX. c), we find that it 

 does not differ from the noi^mal distribution very materially except in 

 the earlier onset and larger scale of the decrease of accidents at the 

 end of each spell and in a somewhat greater accident-rate in the after- 

 noon both shown in the American figures (Diagram II.). These 

 divergences would suggest that, if anything, excitement in anticipation 

 of a change is greater where the work is more uniform, and that the 

 attentiveness and muscle- control which, as we have suggested, 

 accident-distribution specially indicates become weaker than usual 

 towards the end of the day when the work lacks variety. 



4. Finally some attention must be given to the influence of differ- 

 ent systetyis of factory management in diverting output or accident 

 distribution from the ' normal curve ' ; and for the question of human 

 fatigue the most important part of any system of management is the 

 devices to ensure speed in individual operations and in the operation or 

 action of the factory as a whole. 



Hitherto we have regarded the speed of operation as involved in the 

 nature of the work, assuming that for any given process there was some 

 average and standard human rhythm or some definite rate at which a 

 machine was most economically and efficiently run. Yet this natural 

 speed may, so to speak, be tuned up or down, and of late, to judge 

 from working-class opinion, there has been a good deal of tuning up. 

 The degree of tuning or ' speeding up ' of operations depends on the 

 enforcement of discipline, on the ' incentive ' of remuneration (whether 

 time-rate or some system of piece-rat-e), on the speed of automalic 

 machines, or on mechanical devices such as moving bands propelling 

 the work through the factory. 



Besides tuning up of speed of operation we must take account of a 

 tuning up in the general action of the organisation, ensuring unremitting 



