The Adaptive Ultimate - Large Print Edition

Dr. Daniel Scott, his dark and brilliant eyes alight with the fire of enthusiasm, paused at last and stared out over the city, or that portion of it visible from the office windows of Herman Bach-the Dr. Herman Bach of Grand Mercy Hospital. There was a moment of silence; the old man smiled a little indulgently, a little wistfully, at the face of the youthful biochemist."Go on, Dan," he said. "So it occurred to you that getting well of a disease or injury is merely a form of adaptation-then what?""Then," flashed the other, "I began to look for the most adaptive of living organisms. And what are they? Insects! Insects, of course. Cut off a wing, and it grows back. Cut off a head, stick it to the headless body of another of the same species, and that grows back on. And what's the secret of their great adaptability?"Dr. Bach shrugged. "What is?"Scott was suddenly gloomy. "I'm not sure," he muttered. "It's glandular, of course-a matter of hormones." He brightened again. "But I'm off the track. So then I looked around for the most adaptive insect. And which is that?""Ants?" suggested Dr. Bach. "Bees? Termites?""Bah! They're the most highly evolved, not the most adaptable. No; there's one insect that is known to produce a higher percentage of mutants than any other, more freaks, more biological sports. The one Morgan used in his experiments on the effect of hard X-rays on heredity-the fruit fly, the ordinary fruit fly. Remember? They have reddish eyes, but under X-rays they produced white-eyed offspring-and that was a true mutation, because the white eyes bred true! Acquired characteristics can't be inherited, but these were. Therefore-""I know," interrupted Dr. Bach. Scott caught his breath. "So I used fruit flies," he resumed. "I putrefied their bodies, injected a cow, and got a serum at last, after weeks of clarifying with albumen, evaporating in vacuo, rectifying with- But you're not interested in the technique. I got a serum. I tried it on tubercular guinea pigs, and"-he paused dramatically-"it cured! They adapted themselves to the tubercle bacillus. I tried it on a rabid dog. He adapted. I tried it on a cat with a broken spine. That knit. And now, I'm asking you for the chance to try it on a human being!"Dr. Bach frowned. "You're not ready," he grunted. "You're not ready by two years. Try it on an anthropoid. Then try it on yourself. I can't risk a human life in an experiment that's as raw as this.""Yes, but I haven't got anything that needs curing, and as for an anthropoid, you get the board to allow funds to buy an ape-if you can. I've tried.""Take it up with the Stoneman Foundation, then.""And have Grand Mercy lose the credit? Listen, Dr. Bach, I'm asking for just one chance-a charity case-anything.""Charity cases are human beings." The old man scowled down at his hands. "See here, Dan. I shouldn't even offer this much, because it's against all medical ethics, but if I find a hopeless case-utterly hopeless, you understand-where the patient himself consents, I'll do it. And that's the final word."Scott groaned. "And try to find a case like that. If the patient's conscious, you think there's hope, and if he isn't how can he consent? That settles it!"