Fume-Free Room

If you've ever picnicked on the crest of a sulfur pile, you'll realize why the Harvard-Radcliffe Chemical Society this week opened a lunchroom in the basement of the Mallinckrodt Laboratory. The lab slaves, whose day is so crammed for time that they must eat hurried box lunches, finally have a room to eat in that's out of smell of the salts and ethers of their profession. One of a number of projects financed by the proceeds from the laboratories' coke machine, the lunchroom has curtains, a radio, a hotplate, and space enough to hold 20 people. The Society claims the room will serve for intellectual as well as nutritive exchange.

This is certainly high on the list of the year's greater acts of mercy. The embryo scientist's life is hard enough, what with his long sessions in the lab and his meticulous business of experimenting. In offering the place for mid-day food and relaxation, the Chemical Society has made this scientist's day a little easier.