New Britain herald., 1917-03-07
SCIENTISTS TO SEEK
 FOR POISON IN CANS
National Gamers to Bear Entire
 Expense of Investigation

New York, March 7.-It is an- nounced here by the National .Re- search council that an exhaustive in- vesttgation is to be undertaken to de- termine to what extent, if any, the danger of poisoning. is involved in the use of canned goods. ThA National Gamers association representing prac- ttcally all producers of canned food stuffs this country, is to bear the entire expense of the ,nv4stigation, which will be conducted entirely in- dependent of the association except in
 the matter of financing of the work.
 A sum of over $lO0,O0t will be ap- propriated by the Gamers association. should the work require so large an expenditure.
 The proposal to make such investi- gallon was brought forward by pr. George E. Hale, director ot the Mount
 Wilson Solar observatory and chair
 man of the National Research council.
 who believed there was widespread
 interest in such an important subject
 as the danger of poisoning from the
 use of canned goods. Approaching the National Gamers association. pr. Hale found that organization
 eager to have such an ipdcpepdent tn- vestigation made, firm as 1t was in Che
 belief that canning methods as gener- ally used in this country thoroughly
 protect the public from tho danger Of
 poisoning. Many cases of illness that
 have been attributed to poisoning, from eating canned goods are believed
 by the canners to Ahave actually re- suited from entirely different causes
 or from disregard of the ordinary pre-
 cautions, such as not allowing goods to stand in 9 can after being once opened.
 Work 10 Be Done at Harvard.
 The Gamers association itself has for years maintained its own labora- tory in Washington, adequate to con- duct it's own Investigations, but has. nevertheless, thought 1t wise to put its case into hands of an independent research board, for although the sub- feet is one that has been investigated -to some extent before. there has as yet been no complete survey of this problem. With g view to supplying this deficiency, the National Research council has appointed a committee to supervise the inquiry, which will be, undertaken by the Harvard Medical school in it's department of preventa- tive medicine and hygiene. The work has been entrusted to Dr. M. J. Ros- -enail, of Harvard. who lis one of thu most esDinent pharmacological chem fists in the country. The results of the research will be published through regular scientific channels from time to time, but 1t is expected that it may be . matter of three years or more be- fore the ground is completely covered. The advisory commission which has been named by the National Research council in conference with pr. Ros- enau and under the advice of Dr. Will liam H. Welch, president of the Ma tional Academy of Sciences. which will have supervisory charge of the is as follows:
 Profs. John J. Abel, Johns Hopkins university; Reid Hunt, Harvard uni verAty; E. O. Jordan. university of Chicago; Lafayette B. Mendel, Yale university; Frederick G. Ncvy, uriver- sity of Michigan; Eugene Opie, Wash inRton university; and H. Gideon Wells, University of Chicago.