immunized to the majority. Only occasionally a case of violent
sensitivity came to light and was recognized as such. Two or three cases
there had been which the old scientist discovered while searching the
archives of ancient medicine and these gave him the clew he needed.

One was the case of a little girl who had somehow or other become
sensitized to the protein of wasp toxin and who suffered almost
immediate death from anaphylactic "choc" as the result of being stung by
that insect. A second instance concerned a woman who went into violent
asthmatic paroxysms if a mouse entered the room where she was, and whose
skin broke out into large wheals if touched with mouse hair. Finally,
and most outstanding in his mind, was the case of a child who was
thought to be sensitive to the fish protein in glue and who died almost
immediately when the physician testing her had brought a small quantity
of the dry protein into contact with a scratch on her arm.

These had, however, been rare cases, but they pointed out the method. It
had already been proved over and over again that animals could be
sensitized experimentally by treating them with foreign proteins,
provided that after the initial dose they did not come into contact with
the same protein until after a lapse of about two weeks. If they
happened to do so the first injection or treatment was frequently
neutralized and failed to give the desired sensitivity.

With the discovery of a new, highly pure and synthetic protein by Dr.
Rutledge the situation with the enemy could be put on a close parallel
with the laboratory condition. The enemy could be fed the protein when
they were in need of food and had little else, but since it was
synthetic, they could not get a second supply until the Doctor was able
to put the fatal meal in their way.

THE END

Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from _Amazing Stories_ April 1956 and was
first published in _Amazing Stories_ January 1930. Extensive
research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on
this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical
errors have been corrected without note. Subscript characters are
shown within {braces}.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Sword and the Atopen, by Taylor H. Greenfield

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