"Peppo"

Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones, British physiologist, is hot on the trail of a chemical elixir of life that will do away with weariness and the effects of exertion. Drs. G. W. Crile and W. B. Cannon, American endocrinologists; Mosso, the great Italian authority on fatigue, and various German experts (TIME, Sept. 10) are also experimenting in this field, as well as the English workers.

The human body creates its own antitoxins when poisons enter the blood. Sir Robert believes a similar antitoxin can be discovered for the toxins generated by fatigue. Even if such a natural antidote cannot be found, injections of various kinds have been shown to have a fatigue-fighting value. Prof. K. Neville-Moss, of London, has found that a solution of 60% sodium chloride (common salt) and 40% potassium chloride increases the efficiency of miners 20% when used as a beverage. Hard work in a hot, dry temperature causes free perspiration, loss of salt, cramps and clogging of the kidneys. The salt solution prevented these effects, the miners dug more coal, slept better. "Sleep will never be eliminated," says Dr. Armstrong-Jones.