§ MR. LUPTON (Lincolnshire, Sleaford)To ask the President of the Local Government Board if he has cognisance of the suggestion of the Registrar-General, in his Annual Report, that medical men are in the habit of ascribing some deaths to chicken-pox which are really cases of small-pox; and if he has taken any steps to prevent the continuance of this practice.
§ (Answered by Mr. John Burns.) I presume that my hon. friend refers to the opinion expressed by the Superintendent of Statistics in the letter from him to the Registrar General, which is printed in the hitter's last Report, to the effect that it is at least probable that most of the deaths in 1904 said to have been from chicken-pox were unrecognised cases of small-pox. It falls within the province of the Registrar General to direct public attention, in his Annual Reports, to such a point as that referred to as affecting the accuracy of vital statistics, but neither he nor I have any authority to take further action in the matter.