From Mike Hutton
Herbert Macgregor states that the wearing of gloves proclaims to undergraduates and others that the wearer is a scientist (Forum, 24 June).
In my experience a scientist can easily be distinguished by the telltale eczema-like abrasions on the hand caused by the powder used in the gloves; and it is this that proclaims to one and all that this person is a scientist. Powder-free gloves do exist but are difficult to use, and solving this problem would be a worthy task for any budding Nobel laureate.
