The contraption avoided the tissue damage caused by to-and-fro sawing but surgeons complained it went too far too

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The contraption avoided the tissue damage caused by to-and-fro sawing but surgeons complained it "went too far, too fast". How many mouldy dishes did the frustrated Fleming press upon sympathetic colleagues in the years between 1928, when he discovered the non-toxic antibiotic, and 1940, when Professor Ernst Chain finally devised a way of manufacturing it? At least this one has an impressive provenance, having got a mention in Fleming's biography, thus acquiring sensation value. One cannot help wondering whether these neatly boxed specimens are about to become as common at auction as Charlie Chaplin's canes or Queen Victoria's knickers. Last March, a similar one, inscribed by the Nobel prizewinner, fetched pounds 23,000 at Sotheby's. Another glass dish of Sir Alexander Fleming's penicillin mould is for sale, this time at Christie's South Kensington, estimated at pounds 6,000 to pounds 8,000.

Uncertainty about interest rates and an unstable and upward currency are unsettling, though."Alan Brown, managing director of Cala Homes, Midlands: "This is a progressive Budget that overall is good for business, and will not have a great effect on the house-building industry.". The reduction in tax relief on mortgages will not have much effect in London. However, a betting man would give you very short odds on interest rates not going up half a per cent or more in the next six months, and that will have a greater impact on the market."Simon Agace, chairman of Winkworth: "Since there was no intimation of stamp duty rising again, I don't see the market being affected by the Budget. But it is debatable that rises of this level will have any effect in the medium to long term, particularly if external factors continue to fuel rises which have over the past year averaged 10 per cent. Miras has almost ceased to exist as a factor in buyers' budgets and its reduction will cost the individual no more than pounds 10 per month, although clearly it will be more if interest rates rise."David Woodcock, managing director, Black Horse Agencies: "Some first- time buyers next April will be disappointed by the loss in tax relief, but it is too small to worry about. But the implications are that higher interest rates will control the economy and, in due course, that will have a dampening effect on prices." John Husband, senior partner of Humberts: "The increase in stamp duty will undoubtedly have an impact in the short term on the market for higher- priced properties. For example, it means that whoever buys Tony Blair's house will be paying pounds 12,000 instead of pounds 6,000.

So what effect, if any, do estate agents believe the Budget will have on the housing market? We asked a few for their opinions. Ian Stewart, director and head of Savills Residential Agency: "It is quite reasonable for stamp duty to be set at 2 per cent for properties over pounds 500,000 Those affected can afford the extra 1 per cent. Tax relief on mortgages has been reduced by only 5 per cent, from 15 to 10 per cent, when most had written off Miras altogether. The increase in stamp duty from 1 to 1.5 per cent on purchases above pounds 250,000 and double to 2 per cent on property above pounds 500,000, doesn't even register on the Richter scale of their worst imaginings. Everyone who is in the process of buying or selling property can relax.