Forty-three years ago, my son was born and suffered badly from colic (Scientists find out the best way to soothe a crying baby, 13 September). To get him to sleep, I would pick him up and march up and down the room singing my hopelessly inaccurate version of the Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor Gaelic porridge song, Brochan Lom. It never failed. I am now 78 and have never achieved anything scientifically successful. Please tell me, in my declining years, that my discovery preceded that of Japanese scientists.
Ian Morrison
Bolton, Greater Manchester
• In the 19th century, a man developed a “quietening syrup” to stop babies crying while their mothers were working in factories. Many women had to bring their babies to the factories as they had nowhere else to leave them. The working day was 12 hours; there was a half-hour lunch break and it was only then that they were permitted to feed their babies. After some years the high death rate of babies became a scandal, and the syrup was discovered to contain opium.
Marika Sherwood
Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London
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