4 JULY 1981, Page 17

Medical matters

Sir: In your excellent Notebook item on the possible effect of tea drinking on Mr Benn's constitution (20 June) you overlooked one important clue to his illness. The doctors reported that the illness can be caused by arsenic or metal poisoning. The 17 pints of tea that Mr Benn drinks every day are consumed from out of a tin mug that he carries around with him. Has his hair been examined for tin?

Madeline Smith 2a Landsdowne Park Villas, London W11 Sir: One of the symptoms of the Guillain Barre syndrome in severe cases is known, curiously, as Foot-Drop.

Kenneth Bridges 26 St Johns Road, San down, Isle of Wight