In the latter part of the 19th century it was the custom in the farming community in Ayrshire, Scotland, for the farmer's wife to put a freshly baked scone on a shelf, where it was left to grow mouldy. Anyone on the farm who sustained a cut would then rub this mouldy scone in the wound. It was into this very farming community in 1881 that Alexander Fleming, who went on to discover penicillin, was born. The young Fleming no doubt encountered scone therapy, and even though the practice was eventually deemed unhygienic and fell into disuse, he would, of course, vindicate this home remedy.
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David Adamson
St. Thomas, Ont.