In the hospital occupational therapy shop, music may originate from the public address system, a record player, or the radio. It would seem that the most suitable in the average hospital would be the use of the radio, which the therapist can change at intervals of fifteen minutes or longer in an attempt to get unexciting music at a low volume level. FOOTNOTES: [III.] _The use of industrial music is not to be confused with working songs. Working songs are those sung by groups performing tedious or strenuous work to help them maintain good rhythm and spirit. Bücher (Bücher, K., Arbeit und Rhythmus, Leipzig, 1909) analyzed a long list of working songs and concluded that: 1. Through rhythm they facilitate the synchronous expenditures of energy by individuals engaged in a common task. 2. They spur the worker on through jest, abuse, or reference to the spectators’ opinions. 3. They mention the work, its progress, pleasures, vexations, difficulties and rewards. 4. They inform everyone of the wishes and aspirations of the workers. These slow rhythmic songs are entirely unsuited to the machine age where the machine sets the inelastic rhythm for the worker._ _CHAPTER SIX_ MEALTIME MUSIC Patients who are confined to bed, or for that matter, to a hospital, find meals progressively monotonous in spite of the fact that there is a greater variety offered them than was theirs at home. This monotony results in part from the color and nature of the environment, the personnel, the general atmosphere of the hospital, and the constraining nature of institutional restriction. While dining at home some of these factors are subconsciously dissipated by trivial intimate conversation, friendly faces, individual attention and the security of the things for which “home” stands. There are only a few things which can be done to make hospital meals more enjoyable, aside from those features best handled by the chef and menu planner; but it is possible to increase the pleasure of meal periods through the manipulation of certain environmental factors. One of these is the use of color and _decor_ in hospital dining halls to simulate home surroundings. In the ward this is most difficult where little can be done, except by introducing attractive hangings which are less hospital-like, or by the application of paint in cheerful colors. The latter method is sanitary and practical.