Capsules

P: Estimating that 35 million prescriptions for ataraxic (tranquilizing) drugs (TIME, June 11) will be written in 1956, the American Psychiatric Association got off a warning to its 9,000 members: it "recognizes with enthusiasm the development of . . . drugs for the treatment of psychiatric disorders," but is "concerned about the apparently widespread use of the drugs by the public for the relief of common anxiety, emotional upsets, nervousness and the routine tensions of everyday living."

P: Production and release of polio vaccine are being stepped up so fast that in a few months there should be no more shortages. The Public Health Service announced that 17 million shots were released in June (almost twice as many as in any previous month), bringing the 1956 total to 79 million.

P: A record $184 million for the National Institutes of Health was included in an appropriation bill signed by the President last week. This is $85 million more than the research institutes got in the fiscal year just ended. Congressmen, influenced greatly by the heart attacks of Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson and President Eisenhower, were especially generous with the National Heart Institute, gave it $33 million as against $19 million last year.

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