DR. CAMERONasked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether his attention has been called to the j Abstract Report of a Committee of the Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Barcelona, appointed to investigate Dr. 1400 Ferran's system of protective inoculation against cholera, published in The British Medical Journal of the 30th ultimo, and particularly to the following paragraph:—
That, in the opinion of the Committee, the identity of the micro-organism of Ferran with the comma-bacillus of Koch has been established, and that its pathogenic effects have been proved to be prevented by inoculation. Therefore, a means of averting cholera has been discovered;whether he has observed that, according to Spanish telegrams published in the newspapers, the Spanish Government on 28th May appointed a Commission to proceed to the cholera-stricken districts of Valencia along with Dr. Ferran, with the view of testing his system; and, whether, in view of the probably fleeting nature of the opportunity now presented for its investigation and the trifling expense required for the despatch of a small Commission to an accessible country like Spain, he will consider the propriety of at once nominating such a Commission, without awaiting the result of protracted negotiations with the Indian Government as to their bearing a portion of the cost?
MR. GEORGE RUSSELLOur attention has been called to the Report of the Committee referred to, and we have seen the telegrams in The Standard as to the appointment of a Commission by the Spanish Government. We have been promised by Her Majesty's Minister at Madrid translations of any papers by Dr. Ferran; but, having regard to the opinion of our medical adviser, we do not deem it necessary at the present time to despatch a Commission on behalf of the Board with the view of investigating Dr. Ferran's system of inoculation.