256 



REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. — 1916. 



demanding oxygen. With the tax made upon the heart in extreme 

 stress the heart may fail to remove the fatigue bodies, which, accumulat- 

 ing, may irritate the delicate muscular mechanism in the arterial walls. 

 This irritation, with the relative absence of anabolic bodies and oxygen, 

 results in a degeneration of muscular tissue, and the artery in self- 

 defence undergoes fibrous degeneration. 



The history of six years of Balkan wars prove beyond dispute that 

 the strain of forced marching, inadequate food, insufficient rest and 

 sleep, resulting in a temporary and functional fatigue to begin with, may 

 ultimately, through a gradual depreciation of tissue, cause a genuine 

 degenerative lesion. 



Section II. 

 The Daily Course of Fatigue in Type-setting. 



The Committee have succeeded in securing ' an hourly output 

 curve oi the process of type-setting. Type-setting, whether by machine 

 or hand, is work requiring the closest attention and must be sharply 

 distinguished from the uniform and regular work that can so easily be 

 performed automatically. The reading of the manuscript and the 

 setting of the different combinations of letters and points require judg- 

 ment and care. Working by hand, there is in addition the task of 

 taking the type from the right box in the compositor's tray and of 

 placing the type correctly on the stick. The piece-hands also often 

 made their own corrections. Work on a typograph machine is much 

 like that of typewriting. The matter to be set was of a uniform nature 

 throughout. 



The factory was situated in the country and built spaciously ; there 

 were no special conditions likely to be unfavourable to health. 



Type-setting hy Typograph Machines. Operated by men. Average 

 mimber of ' ens ' over period of ten full working days in February 

 1916. 



Note. — (rt) There is a mid-spell break of ten minutes from 9 to 9.10. The 

 output for the period 9 to 10 is averaged up to the full hour, (b) There is no 

 break in the work from 3 to 3.15. 



' By courtesy of Mr. Stanley Unwin, of Messrs. Allen & Unwin, and of 

 Messrs. Unwin Brothers. 



