§ MR. GEDGE (Walsall)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether the Government can give any information as to the result of the recent experiments with regard to inoculation against typhoid fever; whether any report has been received from South Africa showing the number of cases of typhoid fever which have been found among persons who had been, or had not been, so inoculated respectively; and whether steps have been taken to provide Her Majesty's forces in South Africa with the means of such inoculation.
§ MR. ROTHSCHILD (Buckinghamshire, Aylesbury)I beg also to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether he can give any statistics to show how far inoculation has afforded protection from enteric fever, and to what extent patients who have been inoculated have contracted the disease in a milder form.
§ * MR. WYNDHAMI am not yet in a position to give the information asked for, as the statistics at present available are not sufficient for forming a conclusive opinion. Only those men are inoculated who volunteer to submit to the operation, and according to returns at present received about 20 per cent. volunteered either before embarkation or during their voyage out. It is not considered advisable to inoculate them after landing in South Africa, as the operation might cause delay in their movements. Statistics have been called for from every 1238 station at home and abroad, and a special report regarding the garrison of Lady smith.