From Dr John A. H. Wylie
Sir: Non sequitur and error fucatus suffuse Mr Chowdharay-Best's brief letter (13.10.73). A noble pipe of port even if, in its maturity, it were imprudently imbibed with copious potations would in nuda veritate bear upon the " hardness " of the arteries not a whit. The enjoyment of a good cigar or pipe of tobacco is an innocuous indulgence indeed compared with the havoc, in some measure always, wrought by cigarette-smoking even in " so-called " moderation. Rayages suffered, moreover, not by the culprit alone but inflicted, willy-nilly, also upon those in enforced propinquity: spouses, co-workers etc.
Mr Chowdharay-Best's homily would not alone have prompted me to encroach upon the hospitality of your columns so soon again but this maladroit intervention permits me to proffer an important corrigendum. The 'phrase " less incontrovertible" in my letter of October 6 was textually contradictory and should, of course, have read " less controvertible." Happily, misprints in The Spectator are now much rarer than they once were; con
sequently I was distressed to learn from two of my acquaintances, Spectator addicts both, that they had apportioned the blame for my careless blunder to your type-setters. I beg leave, therefore, lest others similarly mix-construe, to set the record straight. John A. H. Wylie 9A Portland Place, Kemp Town, Brighton
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