SORTING THE UNFIT

Otago Witness, Issue 3414, 20 August 1919, Page 19

SORTING THE UNFIT

MACHINE TO HELP MEDICAL EXPERTS. A remarkable machine, which has so far been little used in England, is«now being employed in the Research Department of the Ministry of National Service to simplify the medical analysis of the 250,000 men who were found too unfit for the army and placed in Grade IV. It is a super-sorting machine driven by electricity, and its surprising labour-saving quality makes possible what may turn out to be the most exhaustive analysis over made of the ailments of so large a body of men._ Eor each man there is a card on which a complete history of him appears, coded in numbers. His occupation, height, the reason of his rejection by the army, the colour of his eyes and hair, and many other details all appear as numbers. The colour of his eyes may be represented, say, by the figure 5 in a certain column. A hole is punched so that a small circle is left. Then the machine cornea in. If it is desired, say, to refer to the cards of all men with blue e3 7 es, it is necessary merely to drop all the cards into the top of the machine, press a button, and then take the "blue-eye" cards as they are neatly and quicidy sorted in a bundle at the bottom of the machine. It will deliver the cards in this way under any desired heading, and will even assist in the co-relating of headings. It has been found, by the bye, that for the important work of punching the cards, on which the efficiency of the machine depends, girls under 16 are most suitable.