SIR, — A few weeks ago I read, with awe, about the
lady clerk in a government ministry who changed her sex and then returned to 'her' job at a slightly higher salary since 'she' was now, a male and therefore entitled to a larger stipend. Only a day or two ago the front page of a leading daily bore the sensational news of a lady, a Mrs. Purcell, who after fifteen years of matrimony only learnt that her 'husband' was a woman upon `his' death in hospital. He had changed his sex some years before. Now the Sunday papers refer to recent operations in Denmark upon two friends who changed their sexes under romantic circumstances. I feel so sorry for the Registrar of Births, whose hitherto immaculate registry will soon be full of alterations, erasures and even blots. An advertising circular recently received, starting with the old-fashioned mode of address: 'Dear Sir or Madam (as the case may be),' now assumes a new and sinister significance.—yours faithfully,
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