§ SIR PHILIP MAGNUS (London University)To ask the First Commissioner of Works whether he can now see his way to take any steps to improve the ventilation of the House by the admission of fresh air through other channels than the floor, over which hundreds of persons tread during the day, bringing with them from the roads particles of organic matter, which, by the system now in operation, are forced into the air and distributed throughout the Chamber.
(Answered by Mr. L. Harcourt.) It has already been shown by the inquiry before the Select Committee upon the subject, that nothing short of a radical reconstruction of the Chamber would permit of an alteration of the system of admitting fresh air at the floor level. It should, however, be borne in mind that, in addition to scrupulous cleanliness, any small extent of vitiation in connection with the present system is probably neutralised by the rapid changes of air.