The Relation of Public Health and Clinical Laboratories.

ASURVEY of laboratory work was recently made in the State of Illinois covering the calendar year 1926. Questionnaires were sent to 192 laboratories and 13 public health laboratories. Replies were received from 78, or 40 per cent, which was a good response for the first call without a follow-up reminder. In Table I, is listed the amount of work actually reported and the estimated total if all laboratories had reported. This estimate is conservative because some of the largest laboratories, as well as the small ones, failed to make returns. The survey omitted the federal institutions, such as the U. S. Army at Ft. Sheridan, the U. S. Navy at Great Lakes, the U. S. Veterans Bureau at Maywood; state institutions such as the Psychopathic Institute, the State University, and the various state hospitals and penal institutions; county institutions such as county hospitals and sanatoriums. A large amount of the work performed by the above institutions is clinical in character although many public health problems are confronted. At any rate, these institutions cannot be considered competitors of private laboratories and hence can be omitted from this study.