October 7, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



325 



The report stresses the importance of cor- 

 recting subnormal vision among employees, 

 saying that excess eye fatigue results in con- 

 ditions which must produce a time labor loss 

 from reduction in quantity and quality pro- 

 duction. Substandard vision was found to 

 be of great frequency. One investigation 

 showed that out of 2,906 garment workers 

 only 743 or a little over 25 per cent, had 

 bilateral normal vision, 17 per cent, having 

 normal vision in one eye, with the other de- 

 fective. The highest percentage of defective 

 vision was in the class of workers who made 

 the greatest use of their eyes. 



An examination of more than 10,000 em- 

 ployees in factories and commercial houses 

 found 53 per cent, with uncorrected faulty 

 vision. Of 675 employees in a typewriter 

 company, 58 per cent, were found to be in 

 need of correction by glasses. Of the re- 

 jections in the National Army, 21.7 per cent, 

 were because of eye trouble. An examination 

 of the vision of 3,000 employees in a paper 

 box factory in Brooklyn, N". Y., showed that 

 the percentage of normal was only 28. In 

 every group of workers examined there were 

 a large number who fell below the line and 

 this number becomes appreciably greater if 

 those who have subnormal vision are taken 

 into account. The report continues: 



As in the correcting of other factors of occupa- 

 tional hygiene, standards have been set, so, after 

 further study, visual acuity standards will have to 

 be determined for each grade of workers and read- 

 justments made, with alterations in our methods of 

 testing acuity to suit conditions, until these stand- 

 ards give us the necessary minimum for each kind 

 of work. As examinations are made at present, 

 any set level would exclude workers shown by prac- 

 tical test to be very eflSeient producers. 



Many subnormal eyes will work well even for 

 fairly trying work if conditions are good. There- 

 fore, it is first of all urgent to bring the working 

 conditions up to the best, on the basis now under- 

 stood. 



Even the most superficial survey of lighting con- 

 ditions reveals that in the majority of plants there 

 is much improvement possible, in spite of the actual 

 increase in production quantity and quality when 

 poor illumination is corrected to standards now con- 



sidered satisfactory. There seems to be no question 

 of loss due to faulty conditions. 



One estimate, the report stated, placed the 

 loss due to faulty conditions in this country 

 as above the entire cost of illumination. In 

 446 plants investigated only 8.7 per cent, 

 were found to be in excellent condition, the 

 other ratings being: Good, 32 per cent.; fair, 

 29.1 per cent; poor, 18.8 per cent.; very 

 poor, 3.5 per cent. ; partly good, partly poor, 

 7.8 per cent. 



THE YALE FOREST SCHOOL 



Students from twenty-four universities and 

 colleges, including four foreign countries, will 

 attend the Yale Forest School at New Haven 

 this year. Twenty-one men are candidates 

 for the degTee of Master of Forestry. The in- 

 stitutions represented in this attendance in- 

 clude the state universities at Cornell and 

 Syracuse, N. Y., Maine, Minnesota, Montana, 

 Washington, California, Pennsylvania, Mis- 

 souri and Michigan. The foreign students 

 come from the University of Ghristiania, 

 Norway, Melbourne University, Australia, 

 South African College, Capetown, South 

 Africa, and University of Nanking, China. 

 Yale continues to equip Chinese stu- 

 dents to carry on the work started by former 

 graduates — this year two will be in attend- 

 ance. The students from Australia and 

 South Africa are sent by their respective gov- 

 ernments. 



Owing to the growth of the school, new 

 quarters were needed, and these will be se- 

 cured through the recent gift of $300,000 

 from William H. Sage, B.A., Yale, '65, of 

 Albany, N. Y., which will be devoted to the 

 erection of a forest school building in mem- 

 ory of his deceased son, DeWitt Linn Sage, 

 of the class of 1897. 



During the fiscal year 1920-21, graduates 

 of the Yale Forest School were chosen to 

 fill 49 positions in forestry, including 10 in 

 government work, 9 in state forestry depart- 

 ments, H as teachers in other schools of for- 

 estry, 11 as managers of forest estates or for 

 corporations owning forest land, 5 with lum- 

 ber companies, 2 in forest products and 1 in 



