From Tom Marlow
The item on using cactus spines as gramophone needles
(16 October, p 52)
reminded me of when I was in India in 1945. Thorns were regularly used in
offices in place of pins. I never found out which plant they came
from—presumably not a cactus. But they were similar to cactus spines,
around 3.5 centimetres long and served the purpose beautifully.
Saffron Walden, Essex
