206 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL VI. No. 1183 



buildings, and animals for experimental purposes. 

 At present, equipment and personnel can not be 

 obtained through ordinary government sources 

 without delay, which makes this source of supply 

 quite impracticable. 



Cooperation 'with Major Murphy in his 

 plans is pledged by Dr. George W. Crile, of 

 Cleveland, who headed the first Red Cross unit 

 to reach France; Dr. Lambert, Dr. J. A. Blake, 

 Colonels Ireland and Bradley, of General 

 Pershing's staff, and various American ex- 

 perts on the ground. 



A group of specialists in infant welfare 

 has been sent to Prance by the American Eed 

 Cross. At its head is Dr. "William P. Lucas, 

 professor of pediatrics in the University of 

 California. 



He reports that there is need for doctors 

 and nurses for work with mothers and chil- 

 dren, and the Infant Welfare Unit wiU be 

 prepared to give such immediate relief as it 

 can. "With him in the unit, which was financed 

 by Mrs. "William Lowell Putnam, of Boston, 

 are Dr. J. Morris Slemons, of the Tale Med- 

 ical School; Dr. Julius Parker Sedgwick, 

 physiological chemist, professor at the Uni- 

 versity of Minnesota; Dr. John C. Baldwin, 

 specialist in diseases of children; Dr. Clain P. 

 Gelston, Dr. Lucas's assistant at the Univer- 

 sity of California; Dr. N. O. Pearce, another 

 specialist, and the following experts in sociol- 

 ogy and child-welfare work: Mrs. J. Morris 

 Slemons, Mrs. William P. Lucas, Miss Eliza- 

 beth Ashe and Miss Rosamond Gilder, daughter 

 of the poet. These specialists will survey the 

 situation and study the work already being 

 done by the French, and will practice without 

 receiving compensation from patients. The 

 task before the Red Cross, which will be car- 

 ried on by this and succeeding units, is not 

 only to cooperate with French specialists, but 

 also to carry on a general educational cam- 

 paign among French mothers in the interest of 

 better prenatal hygiene and scientific feeding 

 and care of the babies. Special efforts will be 

 made to protect children from tubercular in- 

 fection, which is particularly threatening 

 France to-day as a result of trench warfare. 



WAR DEMONSTRATION HOSPITAL OF THE 

 ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE 



As has been noted in Science the Rocke- 

 feller Institute for Medical Research has re- 

 cently opened a War Demonstration Hospital, 

 on the grounds of the Institute, at Avenue A 

 and 64th Street, ISTew York, the funds for this 

 purpose having been provided by a special ap- 

 propriation of the foujidation. 



The purposes of this hospital are to treat 

 patients suffering from infected wounds by 

 methods which have been developed in Euro- 

 pean army hospitals, especially the methods 

 developed by Dr. Alexis Carrel and Dr. H. D. 

 Dakin, in the Military Hospital at Compiegne, 

 France, and to demonstrate these methods in a 

 practical way to American surgeons. The 

 hospital will make no charge for treatment or 

 care. 



As a contribution to assist in solving the 

 problem of cantonment, hospital and other tem- 

 porary construction, the institute has housed 

 the demonstration hospital in a series of porta- 

 ble buildings such as are used in the most 

 improved base hospitals on the western front. 

 In this way the conditions under which hos- 

 pital work is carried on in France are imi- 

 tated; at the same time there is demonstrated 

 a method of knock-down construction which is 

 used to a large extent at the front. 



The War Demonstration Hospital is a 

 double-walled construction with a double roof. 

 It is thus well protected against both heat and 

 cold; it is heated by steam, experience having 

 demonstrated the desirability of steam in 

 laundries, kitchens and wards, where more than 

 300 beds are installed. 



The plan of the temporary hospital at the 

 Rockefeller Institute was made by Mr. Charles 

 Butler, a New York architect, who has for a 

 year and a half studied French and British 

 hospital construction in France; he collabo- 

 rated with the French war department in de- 

 signing hospitals. 



On the basis of this experiment, it is prob- 

 able that such hospitals could be erected and 

 equipped in almost any part of the country at 

 the rate of $700 a bed for a 500-bed installa- 

 tion. 



