SIR,—Unlike Professor Thomson. I would not like the 'benefits' of
fluoridation extended to my children, and I contest the right of the majority—if it be a majority, which I doubt— to inflict it on them. It is the rights of minorities, not of majorities, which distin- guish us from the totalitarians.
Surely it is possible for those who wish to take fluoride for their teeth to do so without compulsorily dosing fa) all those who do not want it. (h) all the adults who cannot benefit by it, and who, according to much reliable medical opinion, may be adversely affected by it.
Professor Thomson has a touching faith in the rightness of local authorities who 'take a decision on behalf of their electorates.' Has he ever analysed the human constituents of a local authority? These consist, as often as not, of conscientious but quite unscientific local tradesmen, bank officials and whatnot, 'advised' from time to time by a quite ordin- ary MOH. Does he really wish to authorise them to dose us, via the public water supplies. with fluoride for our teeth, and perhaps • Epsom salts for 'regularity,' and bromides for nerves during air raids? There is, indeed, no end to the exhilarating possibilities for con- scientious do-gooders once we accept the principle. Speaking for myself, this is not the kind of work for which I elect my local authority.
DORIS DAVY
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