November 23, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



503 



practical value drawn from the observa- 

 tions is that when the number of working 

 hours per week was reduced from sixty-two 

 to fifty-six the output actually increased. 

 The reduction of the length of the working 

 day by one hour per diem gave a rise of the 

 total output of the week from an amount 

 stated numerically as 6,150 to an amount 

 expressed as 6,759. The output per hour 

 increased 22 per cent. The kind of work in 

 this case was ' ' heavy, ' ' namely, deep screw- 

 cutting by hand. 



In another case, that of 200 women turn- 

 ing aluminium fuse-bodies, the reduction of 

 the working hours per week from 68.2 to 

 60 notably increased the total output, and 

 of course still more the rate of output. 

 From these and other examples the lesson 

 seems to be that there is for manual labor 

 a certain length of working week, or work- 

 ing month, best suited for satisfactory pro- 

 duction in permanence. The length varies 

 with the class of the manual work. If a 

 good efficiency is to be maintained in the 

 factory this "most favorable" length of 

 working month has to be followed. Before 

 that it has to be found out and measured. 



The next point raised was the influence 

 of alcohol on the workers' output. The 

 question has at present been attacked only 

 in the laboratory so far as physiology is 

 concerned. Physiological experiment shows 

 that even a large single dose of alcohol — 

 e. g., 40 c.c. — has little or no effect upon 

 the muscles per se, but that it does impair 

 the working of the nervous system which 

 actuates the muscles. 



A suitable test in respect of the simplic- 

 ity of the nervous centers involved in it is 

 the knee-jerk. This is a familiar reaction 

 to every physician; it is a reflex act, the 

 spinal center for which has been thor- 

 oughly investigated. The effect of a single 

 dose of alcohol of 30 c.c. quantity diluted 

 with 120 c.c. of water is to diminish and 

 render sluggish the knee-jerk ; the speed of 



the response is sometimes decreased by 9.6 

 per cent., the amplitude of the response 

 lessened by 48.9 per cent. The greatest im- 

 pairment of the reaction was noted about 

 one hour after the dose. 



Another test of the effect of alcohol on 

 the musculo-nervous actions was furnished 

 by a very simple voluntary act. The per- 

 son subjected to the experiment was re- 

 quired to move one finger to and fro, that 

 is, to bend and straighten the finger alter- 

 nately, as rapidly as possible. The rate of 

 movement was examined before and after 

 taking a dose of 30 c.c. alcohol diluted as 

 above. This dose impaired the rate at 

 .which the oscillatory movement of the 

 finger could be performed. The rate was 

 diminished an hour after the dose by 8.9 

 per cent. 



Such a movement is not well calculated 

 to test that form of skill which consists in 

 precision. Reasons were adduced for think- 

 ing that a precision of movement is that as- 

 pect of a muscular act which will be most 

 detrimentally interfered vsdth by alcohol. 

 The testing of alcohol effect by the ergo- 

 graph seems to show that a moderate dose, 

 say 30 c.c. of alcohol, in a person accus- 

 tomed to moderate use of alcohol, does not 

 appreciably impair the power of the move- 

 ment nor its resistance to fatigue. But the 

 movements chosen as suitable for ergo- 

 graphic record are such as give little oppor- 

 tunity for the exhibition of precision or of 

 skill of any kind. 



The next point dealt with was the at- 

 tempt to devise some fluid which can be in- 

 jected to counteract the effect of severe loss 

 of blood in the wounded. The properties 

 desirable for the required fluid were shown 

 to be : harmlessness in respect of avoidance 

 of causing clotting in the circulation; res- 

 toration of the volume of the fluid in the 

 circulation ; maintenance of the due degree 

 of viscosity of the circulating fluid, since 

 on that factor depends the arterial and 



