Lord Wright:-

The appellant is a fully qualified medical man practising at Adelaide in South Australia. He brought his action against the respondents, claiming damages on the ground that he had contracted dermatitis by reason of the improper condition of underwear purchased by him from the respondents, John Martin & Co., Ltd., and manufactured by the respondents, the Australian Knitting Mills, Limited; the case was tried by Sir George Murray, Chief Justice of South Australia, who after a trial lasting for 20 days gave judgment against both respondents for the appellant for £2,450 and costs. On appeal the High Court of Australia set aside that judgment by a majority. Evatt, J., dissented, and agreed with the Chief Justice. Of the majority, the reasoning of Dixon, J., with whom McTiernan, J., concurred, was in effect that the evidence was not sufficient to make it safe to find for the appellant. Starke, J., who accepted substantially all the detailed findings of the Chief Justice, differed from him on his general conclusions of liability based on these findings. The appellant's claim was that the disease was caused by the presence in the cuffs or ankle ends of the underpants which he