§ MR. S. SMITH (Flintshire)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he has consented to a vivisectional laboratory being attached to the Department of the Board of Agriculture, at which experiments may be made on horses, dogs, and other highly organised animals; and whether such experiments are allowed there without the use of anæsthetics?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTUREOur veterinary officers are at present engaged in an investigation into the curative and other properties of mallein, and they have also to diagnose suspected cases of rabies. For these purposes inoculation is requisite, and the officers in question have therefore obtained certificates, under the Act of 1876. There has been no new departure in this respect, it having been customary for many years past for my veterinary advisers to obtain such certificates for investigations connected with the suppression of contagious diseases amongst animals. Anæsthetics are employed in connection with the work under the second head above referred to, but not in cases under the first head. No experiments have at any time been made by my officers upon dogs.