§ MR. THOMAS DEWAR (Tower Hamlets, St. George's)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that at an inquest held at Hackney on the 2nd May on a boy who died from ptomaine poisoning, the coroner remarked that the ice cream purchased at street barrows had caused several deaths in London, and that the symptoms had been the same in this case; and in view of the large sale of such articles in East London, will he say whether the inspectors take any steps to secure the occasional analysis of eatables of this description when hawked in the streets.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. WALTER LONG,) Bristol, S.I have seen a newspaper report of the inquest referred to. The London County Council, some time since, caused special inquiry to be made into the conditions under which ice-creams are prepared and sold, and 594 analyses of samples of this article have from time to time been made by the sanitary authorities in London. I am not, however, able to state whether recent action has been taken on the subject.