§ SIR JAMES ELPHINSTONEsaid, he rose to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty, If he will lay on the table of the House the Report of a Committee appointed by the Admiralty to consider the ventilation of Her Majesty's Ships; whether Her Majesty's Ships and Vessels destined for tropical climates since the reception of that Report have been fitted in conformity with the opinion of that Committee; and whether the Officer commanding the Coquette, a gun vessel now preparing to sail for China, has applied to have the ventilation of his ship improved; and if so, what reply has been given to his application?
§ LORD CLARENCE PAGETreplied, that he should have no sort of objection to lay the Report upon the table; but it was in fact only a preliminary Report, and was not complete. The proposals that had 1280 been made by the Committee on Ventilation were some of them quite impracticable; but the Admiralty were carrying out certain of the recommendations in several classes of ships with the view of giving a fair trial to the system, and great hopes were entertained that the ventilating system adopted would prove highly advantageous. The Coquette was fitted with the improved ventilating apparatus.