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167
The Status Civilization
·
Robert Sheckley
30
He
moved
into
the
apartment
in
back
of
his
store
and
began
reading
the
books
left
by
the
late
Hadji
Draken.
The
literature
on
poisons
was
fascinating.
There
were
the
vegetable
poisons
known
on
Earth,
such
as
hellebore,
setterwort,
deadly
nightshade,
and
the
yew
tree.
He
learned
about
the
action
of
hemlock--its
preliminary
intoxication
and
its
final
convulsions.
There
was
prussic
acid
poisoning
from
almonds
and
digitalin
poisoning
from
purple
foxglove.
There
was
the
awesome
efficiency
of
wolfsbane
with
its
deadly
store
of
aconite.
There
were
the
fungi
such
as
the
amanita
toadstools
and
fly
agaric,
not
to
mention
the
purely
Omegan
vegetable
poisons
like
redcup,
flowering
lily,
and
amortalis.
But
the
vegetable
poisons,
although
dismayingly
numerous,
were
only
one
part
of
his
studies.
He
had
to
consider
the
animals
of
Earth,
sea,
and
air,
the
several
species
of
deadly
spiders,
the
snakes,
scorpions,
and
giant
wasps.
There
was
an
imposing
array
of
metallic
poisons
such
as
arsenic,
mercury,
and
bismuth.
There
were
the
commoner
corrosives--nitric,
hydrochloric,
phosphoric,
and
sulphuric
acid.
And
there
were
the
poisons
distilled
or
extracted
from
various
sources,
among
which
were
strychnine,
formic
acid,
hyoscyamine,
and
belladonna.
Each
of
the
poisons
had
one
or
more
antidotes
listed;
but
those
complicated,
cautiously
worded
formulas,
Barrent
suspected,
were
frequently
unsuccessful.
To
make
matters
more
difficult,
the
efficacy
of
an
antidote
seemed
to
depend
upon
a
correct
diagnosis
of
the
poisoning
agent.
And
too
often
the
symptoms
produced
by
one
poison
resembled
those
of
another.
Barrent
pondered
these
problems
while
he
studied
his
books.
In
the
meantime,
with
considerable
nervousness,
he
served
his
first
customers.
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