§ MR. A. K. LOYD (Berks, Abingdon)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether, having regard to the success of the inspector employed by the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society in 1896, in distinguishing impure from genuine butter by simple inspection, he will consider the desirability of placing the services of a few similarly trained specialists at the disposal of local authorities desirous of such assistance before submitting samples to the public analysts; whether samples for analysis selected by the diligence and self-interest of private purchasers show a higher percentage of adulteration than samples submitted, more or less at random, by local authorities; and whether private purchasers have, since 1896, shown signs of becoming more alive to their rights and powers, under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts and the Margarine Act, 1887?
§ MR. H. CHAPLINI am aware of the proceedings of the inspector referred to, but the Local Government Board have neither the duty nor the power of placing specialists at the disposal of the local authorities as suggested. The number of samples submitted for analysis by private purchasers in 1897, exclusive of those submitted by the inspector referred to, was about the same as in 1896. They shower a higher percentage of detected adulterations than samples submitted by the local authorities.