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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