§ 7. Mr. Ralph Ethertonasked the Secretary of State for War whether he can state the number of cases from the Army of chronic suppurative middle-ear disease and deafness treated at military hospitals 8 in France; what reports have been received from Army specialists on this subject; and whether the number of cases to date is such as to justify an instruction to refuse to pass personnel with this ear disease for service overseas?
§ Mr. StanleyThe number of cases of this disease treated in military hospitals in France bears a proportion to the strength of the British Expeditionary Force only very slightly higher than that which prevailed in the Army as a whole during the three years before the outbreak of war. No reports have been received from Army specialists in this connection, and the suggested instruction is not considered necessary.