To the Editor: I read with interest the article by Goldsworthy and McFarlane on Howard Florey, Alexander Fleming and penicillin.1 With regard to the cause of Florey's "famous pinched smile", which allegedly hid tooth erosion caused by his drinking dilute hydrochloric acid prescribed for achlorhydria, a more prosaic yet interesting explanation is found in the memoirs of Raymond Valentine Hennessy. Hennessy was Senior Ear, Nose And Throat Surgeon at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, between 1928 and 1951.2
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- 1. Goldsworthy PD, McFarlane AC. Howard Florey, Alexander Fleming and the fairy tale of penicillin. Med J Aust 2002; 176: 176-178. <eMJA full text>
- 2. Hennessy R. Memoirs [typescript]. St Vincent's Hospital Archives, Fitzroy, VIC, Aug 1970.
- 3. Hennessy R. Acute inflammatory conditions of the mouth and pharynx. Med J Aust 1926; 2: 469-472.
- 4. Macfarlane G. Howard Florey: the making of a great scientist. London: The Scientific Book Club, 1980: 268-270.
- 5. Goldsworthy PD, McFarlane AC. Howard Florey, Alexander Fleming and the fairy tale of penicillin. Med J Aust 2002; 176: 176-178. <eMJA full text>
- 6. Wainwright M. Miracle cure. The story of antibiotics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1990.
- 7. Macfarlane G. Alexander Fleming. The man and the myth. London: Chatto and Windus, 1984.
- 8. Goldsworthy PD, McFarlane AC. Howard Florey, Alexander Fleming and the fairy tale of penicillin. Med J Aust 2002; 176: 176-178.<eMJA full text>