Modern tests for pregnancy, improvements though they are over old-fashioned methods, are still fairly slow and cumbersome. Most also require experimental animals. The tests using rabbits take 48 hours; the standard frog test takes twelve hours, and the newer frog test (TIME, March 21) two hours. A skin test takes five days and is not very accurate. Last week Northwestern University Obstetrician Garwood C. Richardson announced a chemical test that requires no animals, takes only half an hour at most, is 100% accurate, and works within three weeks after conception.
The new test now looks simple, but Dr. Richardson, 52, has been...