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A sample of 147 men drawn from the workers in a pulp mill was compared with one of 124 men from a paper mill. The former included those exposed to chlorine and to sulphur dioxide. No significant differences were found in respiratory symptoms or in simple tests of ventilatory function in the two samples, but men working in chlorine had a somewhat poorer respiratory function and more shortness of breath than those working in sulphur dioxide. The working population of both mills together had a lower prevalence of respiratory disease than that of the male population of Berlin, N.H., previously studied, suggesting that working populations may not be representative of the general population. Further, a low prevalence of disease in a working population exposed to pollutants may not indicate their `safety9 in general populations.

A N u M B E R of -decisions are involved in the selection and administration of a pharmacologic agent to a patient: (1) establishing diagnosis, (2) determination of the necessity for treating with a pharmacologic agent, (3) selection of an appropriate agent, (4) selection of the safest and most efficient route of drug administration, (5) determination of the dosage to be administered, and (6) selection of the appropriate time intervals for administration. An additional and occasionaliy overlooked factor is the accuracy of the measuring deyice used for administration of liquid medications. Teaspoons, the most commonly utilized measuring devices in the home, have been shown to vary greatly in capacity? In addition, there can be significant variation in the amount of medication administered by dif ferent individuals using the same teaspoon. 2, Shirkey 3 has commented on the use of medicine glasses and paper and plastic medicine cups. He states that disposable cups are used widely in the hos

Antibiotic discs were prepared, using several several batches of papers meeting Food and Drug Administration specifications. The analysis of 1,152 zones of inhibition produced showed no performance differences among these batches. Other discs were prepared using papers of different grades. These produced large differences in performance. It is obvious, therefore, that the use of a specified disc paper is necessary for standardizing the performances of the products of various manufacturers and that reproducible results can be attained with the grade of paper specified.

Statistics indicate that US capacities for acid and neutral suiphite pulping are presently at about the same level, running about 10000 short tons daily for each type of pulp. It is projected that acid suiphite will remain at about this level over the next ten years while the production of neutral suiphite will probably double. Most of the spent liquor from the operating mills is burned with or without chemical recovery. For acid sulphite liquor handling systems magnesium and ammonia base are employed to about an equal degree, there being only one sodium base mill. Neutral sulphite liquor recovery systems are either the Institute of Paper Chemistry Process or the Mead process. Most liquor incineration systems employ the fluidized bed furnace. An effort is being made to adapt this unit for magnesium base liquor incorporating chemical recovery. Effluents from acid suiphite mills employing chemical recovery contain about 20 per cent of the original BOD load. Biological treatment in the forms of the activated sludge process and the aerated stabilization basin have been applied in full scale to treat the effluents from both magnesium and ammonia base operations, producing BOD reductions averaging in excess of 85 per cent. The manufacture of by-products continues to consume around 10 per cent of the acid liquor, some being marketed as crude evaporate and the remainder converted to speciality chemicals. The number of companies involved in this business is decreasing. Neutral sulphite effluents are treated by various means. When associated with kraft operations the liquor is invariably diverted to the kraft recovery system as make-up. Remaining effluent is generally treated with the other mill discharges by clarification and biological oxidation. Three mills use land disposal and the same number discharge to the treatment systems of large municipalities. One mill recovers formic and acetic acids from the liquor and sells the remaining raffinate to a kraft mill. At the present time the United States has the capacity for producing somewhat over 21000 short tons daily of acid and neutral sulphite pulps. While manufacture of the former has been declining in recent years, the latter has steadily increased and at present the capacity for producing neutral suiphite semi-chemical pulp exceeds that for acid sulphite by approximately 1500 short tons daily. Projections indicate that acid suiphite capacity will probably