1 JULY 1955, Page 29

SIR,—The repetition of the epithet 'corn-fed' in your Scottish Number

('a corn-fed Middle- West senator' on p. 800 and 'the corn-fed tradition of modern American poetry' on p. 803) recalls an older example of dietary pejorative.

St. Jerome, in denouncing Pelagius, an early outsider from the Far West, described him as `Scotorum pultibus priegravatus. or 'stuffed with Irish porridge.' — Yours faith- fully, JOHN L. SWEENEY

Kensington Palace Hotel, De Vere Gardens, London, W8