SIR,—I am not, nor am I likely to become, the
Member for the Western Isles, but nevertheless I am constrained to expostulate against the aetiology propounded by Janus to explain the former glories of the teeth of the inhabitants of the Island of Lewis, which have already been the subject of an investigation by the Medical Research Council. Dental caries is not merely a fault on the outer surface of the tooth, to be prevented by such mechanical means as the gnawing of sheep bones. It is the external sign of an inner defect due to deficiencies in food. When the staple diet of the Lewisman included homeground oatmeal, and his favourite delicacy was the liver of a cod new-drawn from the Atlantic Ocean, then he received a sufficiency of the vitamins which help to make perfect teeth. But, alas, modern habits and transport have "civilised" his diet, and his dental caries is but one result of the "improvement."
Ificidentally, the legend of the St. Kilda cold, mentioned by Janus (October 10th) as having been exploded by Dr. Johnson, is no legend, but an epidemiological fact which has been recorded from other remote and
isolated island communities.—Yours faithfully, A. J. CAMPBELL.
330 Glasgow Road, Ralston, Paisley.
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