Fatigue Lab Experiments Prove Superman Not Made by Gelatin

Supermen cannot be made by eating gelatin as some recent advertisements have intimated, according to Dr. D. B. Dill of the Fatigue Laboratory, which last year carried out an extensive experiment with the effects of gelatin on the strength and endurance of athletes.

The purpose of the Laboratory's work was to check the early claims of a gelatin sales organization which indicated that gelatin could increase a man's capacity for work by 200% or more. Dr. Dill explained that "if gelatin has such effects on all men, we must recast the theories and practices of physical training upon which rest many techniques of sport, of war, and of industry." It would mean that if a man could run a mile in four minutes, he could, with the help of gelatin, do what no man has yet done run a mile in two minutes.

Twenty-five undergraduates, chiefly Freshmen, trained for middle distance running under the direction of Coach Bill Neufeld throughout the college year. Every two weeks they ran on a tread mill in the Laboratory to test their oxygen consumption, lactic acid content of the blood, and general endurance. Careful check was kept on basal metabolism during the experiment.

About half of those men started taking 60 grams of gelatin a day early in the winter and continued for six or eight weeks. When those men discontinued taking gelatin, the other half of the group started. It was expected that any effects produced by the gelatin would be revealed by divergence in the curves of work performance for the gelatin and non-gelatin groups.

The experiment, sponsored by the Research committee of the Edible Gelatin Manufacturers of America, revealed that "no effect on efficiency nor extraordinary increase in capacity for work in young men can be attributed to gelatin."

The Fatigue Laboratory has also made a positive contribution to athletics at Harvard. Two years ago Langdon Burwoll '41, who had never run before, was participating in one of the fatigue experiments. His record on the tread mill showed he had possibilities as a runner, so acting upon the suggestion of the director of the Laboratory, Burwell went out for cross country. He was soon one on Jaakko Mikkola's outstanding harriers and is now captain of the squad.