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As digital technologies expand access to new forms of legalized gambling, including sports betting and online gaming, it is important to assess the impact of macroeconomic and equity market outcomes on fund flows into gambling. The authors’ findings will be of interest to policymakers and the gambling industry, as various forms of gambling, including day trading, gain broad public acceptance.

The authors examine the impact of macroeconomic forces, business cycles, and financial market wealth on gambling. The authors propose a nonlinear model linking aggregate gambling expenditures to macroeconomic, stock market, and gambling industry variables. The authors estimate the proposed model using nonlinear estimation procedures.

The authors find that price of wagering, incomes, and supply of gambling opportunities are the primary determinants of wagering demand. Aggregate wagering is negatively impacted by realized stock returns and market volatility, but rises during recessions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the questions posed and addressed in this manuscript have not been addressed in prior literature.

Research examining the experiences of women in the workplace has, to a large extent, neglected the unique stressors pregnant employees may experience. Stress during pregnancy has been shown consistently to lead to detrimental consequences for the mother and her baby. Using job stress theories, we develop an expanded theoretical model of experienced stress during pregnancy and the potential detrimental health outcomes for the mother and her baby. Our theoretical model includes factors from multiple levels (i.e., individual, interpersonal, sociocultural, and community) and the role they play on the health and well-being of the pregnant employee and her baby. In order to gain a deeper understanding of job stress during pregnancy, we examine three pregnancy-specific organizational stressors (i.e., perceived pregnancy discrimination, pregnancy disclosure, and identity-role conflict) that are unique to pregnant employees. These stressors are argued to be over and above the normal job stressors experienced and they are proposed to result in elevated levels of experienced stress leading to detrimental health outcomes for the mother and baby. The role of resilience resources and learning in reducing some of the negative outcomes from job stressors is also explored.

The first of a series of lectures arranged by the Wine Trade Club for the present session was given on March 8th, at Vintners Hall, London, when Mr. R. H. Monier‐Williams, B.A., read a paper on “ Legal Matters in the Wine and Spirit Trade ”. Capt. F. H. T. Ree, R.N. (Rtd.), occupied the chair, and in opening the proceedings said that probably most of those present were aware of the fact that Mr. Monier‐Williams was the greatest authority on the problems which beset their trade and he had steered them very successfully through more troubles than he cared to remember. In the course of his address Mr. Monier‐Williams referred to the question of misdescription of an article, and more particularly in relation to wine labels. The Merchandise Marks Act provided that every person who applied any false trade description to goods should be guilty of an offence unless he proved that he acted without intent to defraud. The most usual way in which a trade description was falsely applied was on a label, but the delivery of an invoice containing a false trade description of goods was an “ application ” of that description, and a retailer who gave such an invoice was, prima facie, guilty of an offence under the Act. To establish the defence that he acted without intent to defraud, the defendant must satisfy the Court that he did not know that the trade description which he applied to the goods was false, because he was mistaken as to what the goods really were. For instance, a wine merchant bought, in all good faith, several dozen bottles of wine labelled “ sherry”. It was invoiced to his customers as “ sherry ”, to which it was found to bear no resemblance except possibly in colour. The wine merchant was entitled to be acquitted, but he must have acted in good faith. If the prosecution proved that the merchant knew or must have known perfectly well that the stuff was not sherry, or that he applied the description without caring whether it was true or false he should be convicted. In answering charges a defendant would establish a defence if he proved that he was mistaken as to what the goods were and did not know, therefore, that the trade description was false. Nevertheless, his defence would fail unless he could establish certain matters laid down in the Act, namely that, having taken all reasonable precautions against committing an offence, he had at the time no reason to suspect the genuineness of the trade description, and that, on demand made by or on behalf of the prosecution, he gave all the information in his power with respect to the persons from whom he obtained the goods.

THE Thirty‐third Library Association Conference was distinguished by several features, of which special mention may be made of the social side, the President's address, and the Trans‐Atlantic representatives. On the whole the business side was dull, and to a majority of those present, unproductive. None of the papers possessed novelty or special inspiration, and the discussions were just about the usual level. The attempt to make the meeting important in the public eye was only partially successful, if one may judge by the newspaper comments which accompanied and followed the Conference. Only Dr. Kenyon's vigorous defence of municipal libraries appears to have created interest; and for the time being, at anyrate, he seems to have laid the fiction bogey. His figures showing the work of the municipal libraries seem to have greatly impressed the journalistic community, and for once they realised that the value of these public institutions can only be ascertained by taking into account the whole of their work instead of the operations of a single department. The public meeting held on September 6th, at 8 p.m., was fairly well attended by the citizens of Exeter, and they were entertained by a series' of good addresses by Dr. Jennings of Brighton and others. The Glasgow lay delegate made up for the past reticence of Scottish members by the length and eloquence of his speech. The loss of the American slides rendered a lantern lecture impossible, but Miss Ahern's talk on American library work and ideals made up for what otherwise would have been a great disappointment. Dr. Locke, chief librarian of Toronto, spoke well, and several American librarians also addressed the meeting. Like many of the British members of the L.A., some of them possess the knack of speaking well without saying very much. This apparent paradox will bear thinking over. A paper on “Books and village children” elicited a long discussion but none of the other papers were of great interest. The annual business meeting was a mere torrent of talk, conducted by the same small ring of individuals who inflict their views on every occasion with unfailing regularity. They possess in perfection the art of effective blether which begirls and ends in mere words. To listen in a hot room to these men talking about nothing is an act of heroism for which every auditor deserves the medal of the Royal Humane Society or the Victoria Cross. The delegate to the Brussels Congress was more effective with what he concealed than with what he reported. As remarked above, the knack of saying a lot about a little is not possessed by Americans alone to the exclusion of other nations!

In the second part of this report the action of nitrogen peroxide on flour is discussed at some length in an account of a series of researches that have been carried out by DR. MONIER‐WILLIAMS. His conclusions may be briefly stated as follows. The maximum bleaching effect is obtained when each kilogram of flour is treated with from 30 to 100 cubic centimetres of nitrogen peroxide. The bleaching effect becomes more pronounced after keeping for several days. The amount of nitrous acid or nitrites that are present in bleached flour corresponds to about 30 per cent. of the total nitrogen absorbed, the proportion of nitrites present remaining nearly constant after the lapse of several days in the more slightly bleached samples. After the lapse of a short time it is still possible to extract about 60 per cent. of the nitrogen absorbed by the flour by means of cold water, but after several days the nitrogen that can be extracted by this means decreases. This may perhaps be attributed to the “absorption” of nitrous acid by the glutenin and gliadin. In highly bleached flour (300 cubic centimetres of nitrogen peroxide per kilogram of flour) a considerable increase in the amounts of soluble proteins and soluble carbohydrates takes place. In highly bleached flour, after some time, about 6 or 7 per cent. of the nitrogen introduced as nitrogen by the nitrogen peroxide is absorbed by the oil, which acquires the characteristics of an oxidised oil. No evidence is forthcoming as to the formation of diazo compounds nor the production of free nitrogen. Bleaching was found to exercise an inhibitory action on the salivary digestion of flour.

The importance of sanitary conditions in the production, manufacture, and distribution of foods was never greater than to‐day, for less of the food consumed by the individual is produced and prepared at home than ever before; and likewise, the necessity for sanitary laws in regard to foods was never more keenly realised. The disclosures of the insanitary conditions in our packing houses, exaggerated in many instances, has aroused public indignation. The newspapers added fuel to the flame by rehashing every case in recent history containing anything gruesome or revolting in connection with the preparation of food products. These reports, appearing day after day in the newspapers, gave the public the false impression that the manufacture of human bodies into food products was a matter of not uncommon occurrence, and that insanitary conditions prevailed in the manufacture of most foods. The discussion was continued until not only this country, but Europe, looked with suspicion on the food products of the United States.

A pæan of joy and triumph which speaks for itself, and which is a very true indication of how the question of poisonous adulteration is viewed by certain sections of “the trade,” and by certain of the smaller and irresponsible trade organs, has appeared in print. It would seem that the thanks of “the trade” are due to the defendants in the case heard at the Liverpool Police Court for having obtained an official acknowledgment that the use of salicylic acid and of other preservatives, even in large amounts, in wines and suchlike articles, is not only allowable, but is really necessary for the proper keeping of the product. It must have been a charming change in the general proceedings at the Liverpool Court to listen to a “preservatives” case conducted before a magistrate who evidently realises that manufacturers, in these days, in order to make a “decent” profit, have to use the cheapest materials they can buy, and cannot afford to pick and choose; and that they have therefore “been compelled” to put preservatives into their articles so as to prevent their going bad. He was evidently not to be misled by the usual statement that such substances should not be used because they are injurious to health— as though that could be thought to have anything to do with the much more important fact that the public “really want” to have an article supplied to them which is cheap, and yet keeps well. Besides, many doctors and professors were brought forward to prove that they had never known a case of fatal poisoning due to the use of salicylic acid as a preservative. Unfortunately, it is only the big firms that can manage to bring forward such admirable and learned witnesses, and the smaller firms have to suffer persecution by faddists and others who attempt to obtain the public notice by pretending to be solicitous about the public health. Altogether the prosecution did not have a pleasant time, for the magistrate showed his appreciation of the evidence of one of the witnesses by humorously rallying him about his experiments with kittens, as though any‐one could presume to judge from experiments on brute beasts what would be the effect on human beings—the “lords of creation.” Everyone reading the evidence will be struck by the fact that the defendant stated that he had once tried to brew without preservatives, but with the only result that the entire lot “went bad.” All manufacturers of his own type will sympathise with him, since, of course, there is no practicable way of getting over this trouble except by the use of preservatives; although the above‐mentioned faddists are so unkind as to state that if everything is clean the article will keep. But this must surely be sheer theory, for it cannot be supposed that there can be any manufacturer of this class of article who would be foolish enough to think he could run his business at a profit, and yet go to all the expense of having the returned empties washed out before refilling, and of paying the heavy price asked for the best crude materials, when he has to compete with rival firms, who can use practically anything, and yet turn out an article equal in every way from a selling point of view, and one that will keep sufficiently, by the simple (and cheap) expedient of throwing theory on one side, and by pinning their faith to a preservative which has now received the approval of a magistrate. Manufacturers who use preservatives, whether they are makers of wines or are dairymen, and all similar tradesmen, should join together to protect their interests, for, as they must all admit, “the welfare of the trade” is the chief thing they have to consider, and any other interest must come second, if it is to come in at all. Now is the time for action, for the Commission appointed to inquire into the use of preservatives in foods has not yet given its decision, and there is still time for a properly‐conducted campaign, backed up by those “influential members of the trade” of whom we hear so much, and aided by such far‐reaching and brilliant magisterial decisions, to force these opinions prominently forward, in spite of the prejudice of the public; and to insure to the trades interested the unfettered use of preservatives,—which save “the trade” hundreds of thousands of pounds every year, by enabling the manufacturers to dispense with heavily‐priced apparatus, with extra workmen and with the use of expensive materials,—and which are urgently asked for by the public,—since we all prefer to have our foods drugged than to have them pure.

Reports from the south‐east of England that housewives have been purchasing packets of “ glitter ” consisting of powdered glass, lacquered, coated with silver and sometimes dyed, for the purpose of decorating their cakes makes one wonder seriously whether we Britons are any more of a thinking race than our coloured brethren of London and other large centres, who report has it, consume large quantities of canned cat and dog meat as a sandwich spread. In the first case, although the so‐called “ glitter ” was never prepared for use as a cake decoration, the manufacturers concerned have given an assurance that in future packets will be labelled that the contents are not for eating !

UP to the present the war strain has not had a great effect upon the libraries of this country. Issues have naturally fallen in some departments—particularly in districts where there is a large floating population of aliens—but this has been counterbalanced by increased use in other directions. Many libraries have already been made the local headquarters of relief committees, special constabulary, the National Reserve, boy scouts' associations, etc., and as recruiting stations, and where there is sufficient accommodation, it is proper that the familiar library building should be so used for these emergency national affairs.