The unveiling of a plaque to Dr John Snow (Tribute to Victorian cholera scientist, June 16 ), whose investigations conclusively demonstrated that water from the Broad Street pump was responsible for a cholera epidemic and proved that the disease could be transmitted in this way, is a fitting tribute to his pioneering study. It is good that he is remembered.

Dr Thomas Latta of Leith, who, during a cholera epidemic in 1832, treated cholera for the first time by the intravenous injection of saline, reporting his findings in a letter to the Lancet in May 1832, has been forgotten. His use of intravenous saline was for the time a remarkable attempt to correct the catastrophic loss of body fluids which is the main cause of death in cholera. Many decades were to pass before fluid replacement became recognised as the standard treatment that is in use today.

A colleague of Latta's in the Edinburgh Cholera Hospital in Drummond Street, Dr John Mackintosh, wrote after Latta's death in 1833: "Although Dr Latta's exertions and fate must have been known to a number of influential men, his grave does not exhibit any monument of public gratitude."

Perhaps it is now time for Edinburgh to honour the memory of a remarkable pioneer whose work has been largely forgotten.

Neil MacGillivray, Camuscross, Isleornsay, Isle of Skye.