_The Lancet_ spoke strongly on the subject[21] and in 1883 it was hotly discussed in Parliament. Mr. Mundella spoke in warm praise of Sir Henry Peek's experiment, while Mr. S. Smith, the member for Liverpool, went so far as to say that "if Parliament compelled persons by force of law to send their children to school, and the little ones were to be forced to undergo such a grinding system, they ought not to injure them in so doing, but should provide them, in cases of proved necessity, with sufficient nourishment to enable them to stand the pressure."[22] Such a proposition sounds "advanced" for the year 1883, but he added the still more modern suggestion--"that not only should we have a medical inspection of schools, but that the grants should be partly dependent upon the physical health of the children.... We were applying sanitary science to our great towns, and we should apply the same science also to the educational system of the country."[23] At last Mr. Mundella instigated Dr. Crichton Browne to undertake a private enquiry into the subject. The report was somewhat vague and rhetorical, and Dr. Browne's judgments were said to be based on insufficient data, so that little fresh light was thrown on the question. It is, however, noteworthy that he too recommended medical inspection and also that a record of the height, weight and chest girth of the children should be kept.[24] Footnote 21: "That good feeding is necessary for brain nutrition does not need to be demonstrated or even argued at length ... it must be evident that the position in which education places the brains of underfed children is that of a highly-exercised organ urgently requiring food, and finding none or very little. These children are _growing_, and all or nearly all the food they can get is appropriated by the grosser and bulkier parts of the body to the starvation of the brain.... It is cruel to educate a growing child unless you are also prepared to feed him." (Leading Article, _The Lancet_, August 4, 1883, Vol. II., pp. 191-2.) Footnote 22: _Hansard_, July 26, 1883, 3rd Series, Vol. 282, p. 597. Footnote 23: _Ibid._, p. 598. Footnote 24: _The Times_, September 16, 1884.