Sir, – The younger generation used to enquire why I rarely drained my tea cup, leaving about a centimetre shimmering at the bottom of the cup. The answer was that the tea leaves remaining would never be swallowed. The fact that I have largely consumed teabag tea for at least 50 years made no difference; Pavlov’s dog syndrome dictates that I avoid the invisible tea leaves in my cup. My late aunt, born in 1893, avid and accurate reader of tea leaves, when on visits long ago, would no doubt have sagely forecast my odd fixation. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK JUDGE,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.