11 SEPTEMBER 1926, Page 16

A LATIN " HOWLER " [To the Editor of the

SPECTATOR.] Sra,—You may like to add this to the Latin " howlers " which have appeared from time to time in the Spectator. The new Richmond Hospital in Dublin, opened some twenty-five years ago, boasted a beautiful pair of oaken swing doors, above the lintel of which ran the legend (which was the pride of the senior surgeon) :—

Neceeeitati hand gratiae haec portae patent."

At the opening ceremony, a medical student annoyed the " classical " surgeon by his translation of the scroll as follows :—

" No grease is necessary for these patent doors."

Police Surgeon of Bombay.

Bombay Port Trust, Administrative Medical Officer, 56 Esplan- ade Road.