October 12, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



353 



Tests of this new chemical substance made 

 in army hospitals in Europe and in civil 

 hospitals in America have shown that it is of 

 value in curing wounds and in causing 

 wounds to heal promptly which for months or 

 even years had refused to yield to treatment. 

 While several new substances and new 

 methods found by medical investigators since 

 the war began have proved extremely useful in 

 combating infections in wounds, " Tethelin " 

 has a field of usefulness all its own — after 

 other methods have rendered the tissues 

 aseptic and wounds sometimes refuse to heal, 

 especially where frostbite, burns, or varicose 

 veins have injured the vitality of the tissues. 

 There are thousands of such cases in Europe 

 to-day and they occupy the hospitals for an 

 exceptionally long time, consuming drugs, 

 time, space, and food, and frequently such 

 cases have to be discharged unhealed. It is 

 precisely these cases — the most expensive and 

 most disabling type of wounds — which " Teth- 

 elin " aids, since it stimulates the sluggish 

 tissues and enables nature to work its own 

 repair. 



Professor Eobertson has relinquished all 

 personal profit from his discovery of this 

 growth-promoting substance. In the agree- 

 ment by which the regents of the University 

 of California have accepted the trusteeship of 

 this endowment for medical research it is pro- 

 vided that in case Professor Eobertson should 

 become physically disabled his present uni- 

 versity salary would be continued throughout 

 his lifetime, from the proceeds of the trust, or 

 in case of his death, to his wife for her life 

 time. All income above this contingent 

 charge will go to endow an institute of medi- 

 cal research, devoted to research in medicine, 

 and especially to research in the physiology, 

 chemistry and pathology of growth. 



Under the supervisory control of the re- 

 gents of the university, the researches thus 

 provided for are to be directed by a board of 

 directors, of which the charter members are 

 to be five members of the faculty of the Uni- 

 versity of California : Dr. F. P. Gay, professor 

 of pathology; Dr. Herbert M. Evans, pro- 

 fessor of anatomy; Dr. George H. Whipple, 



professor of research medicine and director of 

 the George Williams Hooper Foundation for 

 Medical Research; Dr. C. L. A. Schmitt, re- 

 search assistant in pathology; and Professor 

 Eobertson himself. Vacancies on this board 

 must be filled from men engaged directly and 

 primarily in research work of the character 

 mentioned or of some kindred character. No 

 man who ceases to be so engaged may con- 

 tinue to serve as a director, and no director is 

 to contine in service on the board after he 

 arrives at the age of sixty. It is felt by the 

 University of California that one especial 

 value of the establishment of this foundation 

 is the pattern which it sets for a procedure 

 by which other scientific discoverers may dedi- 

 cate the results of their scientific discoveries 

 to the benefit of mankind as a whole. 



THE HEALTH OF MUNITION WORKERS 

 IN ENGLAND 



The report to the British government Com- 

 mittee on the Health of Munition Workers is 

 summarized in the Journal of the American 

 Medical Association. Dr. H. M. Vernon has 

 conducted an elaborate investigation for the 

 committee, the members of which realize that 

 the data at their disposal are not yet ample 

 enough to permit them to express a final judg- 

 ment on the whole question of hours of labor 

 in relation to output, on the one hand, and the 

 well-being of the employees, on the other. But 

 they are strongly of opinion that the evidence 

 collected by Dr. Vernon and his conclusions 

 merit the immediate and earnest considera- 

 tion of all concerned in industrial organiza- 

 tion at the present time, (a) Observations ex- 

 tending over a period of thirteen and one half 

 months on the output of workers employed in 

 making fuses showed that a reduction of work- 

 ing hours was associated with an increase of 

 production both relative and absolute. The 

 rate of production changed gradually, and did 

 not reach an equilibrium value before the ex- 

 piration of four months. Thereafter it re- 

 mained steady during the period of from three 

 and one half to five months during which it 

 was observed. The gradual change negatives 

 the suggestion that the effect was a mere con- 



