"Vance, Jack - Gaean Reach - Demon Princes 03 - The Palace of Love" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

an intensive study of the coin-tree, and after several years finally
derived a substance of unusual potency. To be useful it must be
dissolved in methycm and wafted into the air as a fog or a mist,
whence it enters the corpus through the eyes, causing first blind-
ness, then numbness, then complete paralysis. Think of it' From
waste, a useful and effective poison' Is this not a tribute to human
persistence and ingenuity3"

"An impressive accomplishment," said Gersen. Alusz Iphigema
remained silent.

Edelrod went on: "We are frequently asked why we persist in
deriving our poisons from natural sources. Why do we not immure
ourselves in laboratories and synthesize3 The answer is of course
that natural poisons, being initially associated with living tissue, are
the more effective."

"I would suspect the presence of catalyzing impurities in the
natural poisons," Gersen suggested, "rather than metaphysical as-
sociation."

Edelrod held up a minatory finger. "Never scoff at the role of
the mind' Eor instance-let me see-there should be one some-
where near . Yes. See there-the little reptile."

Under a mottled white and blue leaf rested a small lizardlike

creature.

THE PALACE OF LOW 347

"This is the meng. From one of his organs comes a substance
which can be distributed either as uigar or as furux. The same sub-
stance, mind you' But when sold as uigar and used as such, the
symptoms are spasms, biting off of the tongue and a frothing mad-
ness. When sold and used as furux, the interskeletal cartilage is
dissolved so that the frame goes limp WTiat do you say to that3 Is
that not metaphysics of the most exalted sort3"

"Interesting, certainly . Х . Hm . . . What occurs when the sub-
stance is sold and used as, say for the sake of argument, water^"

Edelrod pulled at his nose. "An interesting experiment. I won-
der . .. But the proposal encases a fallacy. W^ho would buy and ad-
minister an expensive vial of water?"

"The suggestion was poorly thought out," admitted Gersen.

Edelrod made an indulgent gesture. "Not at all, not at all. From
|ust such apparent folly come notable variations. The graybloom,