We find that a spin-orbit feme with the conventional Skyrme form repro
duces satisfactorily the isospin dependence of the spin-orbit field ge
nerated in relativistic Hartree calculations on semi-infinite nuclear
matter with different neutron excesses. We also examine a generalizati
on of the Skyrme-type energy-density functional that leads to still be
tter agreement with the relativistic Hartree calculations.