HC Deb 28 April 1931 vol 251 c1466W
Mr. FREEMAN

asked the Secretary of State for War the number of experiments and the number of animals involved in each of the chemical research laboratories during 1930?

Mr. SHAW

I understand from my hon. Friend that he is using the term "experiment" to cover a single investigation in which one or more animals may be used, and the figures given below are on that basis. The number of experiments carried out at the Chemical Defence Experimental Station, Porton, during 1930, and the number of animals involved, were 131 and 719 respectively; the number of animals involved in experiments at the Physiological Laboratory, Cambridge, during the same period was 85. Exact figures as to the number of experiments at Cambridge are not available at the War Office, but I will obtain them and send them to my hon. Friend.

Mr. FREEMAN

asked the Secretary of State for War what is the largest number of animals involved in one experiment since the opening of the research laboratories; when it was performed; and for what purpose?

Mr. SHAW

The largest number of animals involved in any one experiment since the opening of the Chemical Defence Experimental Station, Porton, after the War is 92. The experiment was carried out in August, 1924, with the object of ascertaining the effect, if any, produced by exposure to very low concentrations of gas.