116 REPELATRON SKYWAY
“That’s right. And Dr. Gorde says Eldreth had some odd theories about a plant or mineral extract which could control the growth processes of living organisms. Dad, the place Professor Eldreth went to pursue his researches was Ngombia!”
Mr. Swift stared at his son. “You mean that the extract Eldreth was after is present in those soil samples?”
“Exactly. Some sort of growth-triggering mineral. The worms must have digested it, and this is the result!” Tom’s eyes blazed with excited interest. “Professor Eldreth disappeared into the jungle twenty years ago-but this backs up his theories!”
Mr. Swift paced back and forth, frowning. “It seems incredible-yet we have the evidence right here before our eyes. I’d say Eldreth’s ideas are worth looking into.”
Tom immediately telephoned Miss Remple, the Enterprises librarian. He asked her to gather all the scientific journals in which Professor Eldreth’s technical papers had appeared. That evening Tom and his father perused them avidly.
Both the Swifts had a keen grasp of all branches of science, including biology. They knew about recent research experiments in the growth field, such as polyploidy or chromosome multiplication-growth hormones-and DNA, the giant molecule which controls cell development. Judging by his writings, Eldreth seemed to have foreseen much of this work.
SUPERWORMS 117
What caught Tom’s eye, however, was an article about the breeding of “throwbacks”-animals which resembled earlier kinds. Professor Eldreth had claimed that extinct species of animals could be re-created by careful breeding of present-day animals to bring out the characteristics of the older beasts from which they were descended.