§ 63. Mr. NEWMANasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he can give the present number of persons of either sex who, as a protest against terms of imprisonment to which they have been sentenced for offences other than those in connection with the demand for the enfranchisement of the female sex, have refused and are refusing to take nourishment; and whether, in the case of such persons, accurate observation is being taken of the result to their bodily health of such abstinence, and any loss of weight or other physical symptoms recorded for the future guidance of the prison medical authorities?
§ Mr. GULLANDI mentioned three such cases in my reply on the 24th of June to the question of the hon. Member for the Dulwich Division. These are the only cases that have been brought to the notice of the Prison Commissioners, and it is believed that there are no others; but it is not possible to say so definitely without circularising all the prisons. Careful observation is kept and recorded by the medical officers.