From the "Letters to the Editor" Section of The Times Literary Supplement (July 21, 2017), p. 6

Pernicious coriander

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Sir, - "Pernicious, not to say poisonous (Letters, July 7) is a harsh view of coriander; but in view of what Yahya ibn al-Awwan al-Ishbili considered its origins, perhaps justified. Composing his Kitab el-Filaha (Book of agriculture) at his farm outside Seville in the late twelfth century, he wrote, "if you take a goat's testicles, and plant them in the earth and water them ... you will see coriander grow where no seeds of it have been sown". So, quite pernicious, and definitely unkind to goats.

--Martin Rose, Catmere End, Saffron Walden

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CIA operation [Extract]

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"We recall the right-wing Bill Buckley's comment decades ago: 'The attempted assassination of Sukarno last week had all the earmarks of a CIA operation. Everyone in the room was killed except Sukarno.' "

--Robert G. Walker, St. Petersburg, Florida 33711