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EXPERIMENTS that have been in progress since the 1929 Semi-Annual Meeting to measure the fatigue caused by an automobile ride, using the human body as a measuring instrument, and to predict there-from the possible effects of various types of spring-suspension, shock-absorber and other comfort-giving components are described. Initially, the problem was approached from the physiological standpoint because fatigue is definitely known to be a physiological phenomenon and, if the physiological changes are sufficiently marked to be measured, physiological tests are definite and quantitative. Changes in the human body are a good index of relative comfort, and, if the normal reactions of an individual or any group of individuals before a test are known, similar measurements at the end of a test or at the end of an automobile ride should show an appreciable difference.

This is the fourth report by Dr. Moss on the investigation of riding comfort at the George Washington University and is a progress report on the measurement of automobile riding-qualities. The previous reports were published in the S.A.E. JOURNAL as follows: September, 1929, p. 298; January, 1930, p. 99; and April, 1930, p. 513. In this report, which was presented at the 1930 Semi-Annual Meeting, the author describes improvements made in two wabblemeters for measuring physiological fatigue caused by riding and the use of two accelerometers to correlate the behavior of the automobile with the physiological results. Results obtained with two groups of subjects, one consisting of taxicab drivers and the other of university students, are summarized, and the results of preliminary tests of the comparative riding-qualities of different cars as shown by their effects on the subjects are also given.