Business School Uses Tread Mill Machine For Experiments With Heat and Respiratory Action

Its practical use gone with the incoming of modern machinery, a Tread Mill, once the most efficient means of churning butter and grinding corn, is now being used in the Fatigue Laboratory of the Business School in line with their research on physical exertion.

Formerly operated by animals or men, the machine is now propelled by motor which will turn it over from 2.3 to 17.6 miles per hour. However, the engine may be removed with slight difficulty and run by human power, if the device is tilted sufficiently.

Despite years of use the mechanical theory has not changed. By walking or running in stationary position on the incline of the contrivance, wheels are turned which produce the desired action, in turning a butter churn or mill.

By simply inverting the machine, the animate propeller may walk either up or down hill without decreasing the efficiency and relieving the monotony.

The Business School has found the device helpful in human experiment. Without moving outside the laboratory, the attendants are able to obtain the heart rate of an individual at the same time regulating the amount of activity. The engine is also useful in measuring human respiration.

At the present time there are very few of these machines left in use in the United States. The Business School has been using their engine for nearly ten years.