Breakthrough by Thea Cooper

Author:Thea Cooper [Cooper, Thea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FOUR

Patents, Partnership, and Pancreases, Indianapolis and Toronto, April to August 1922

IN APRIL 1922, IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS WORKDAY IN THE PURCHASING Department at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Austin Brown was startled to be summoned to the office of President J. K. Lilly Sr. He had never been to the president’s office, and as he made his way across the company campus and through the hushed corridors of the executive building, his mind raced with reasons why Mr. J. K. Lilly could possibly want to see him. By the time he arrived at the outer office, his stomach was in knots and his palms were damp and cold. Lilly’s secretary immediately ushered him into the inner sanctum, which smelled of good leather and polished mahogany. There he found not only Mr. Lilly, but also Clowes and the company treasurer, Nicholas Noyes. Mr. Lilly invited him to sit down in an empty chair, which was handy because his knees had begun to feel like pudding.

“Thank you for coming,” Mr. Lilly said. “I assume you know Dr. Clowes and Mr. Noyes. Gentlemen, this is Mr. Brown, from purchasing.”

Brown opened his mouth but no sound came out. He smiled and nodded.

“Tell me, Brown,” Dr. Clowes asked, “Do you think you could arrange for two thousand pounds of pancreas glands to be delivered to the Science Building on a weekly basis?”

Brown had never seen a pancreas gland in his life. He tried to imagine where in the body it was located. Was it the gland in the brain that regulated growth? No, that was the pituitary gland. Was it the same as sweetbreads? Was it the same as tripe? As far as purchasing went, he had plenty to say—about paper clips and steno pads, and sure, he knew his way around a laboratory supply catalogue, too, beakers and tongs and microscope slides. But pancreas glands?

“Either beef or pork is fine,” Clowes added, as if that would help to clarify things.

Brown nodded. He had no idea where or how to find beef or pork pancreas glands or how difficult or expensive they might be to get. But judging from the expressions on the three faces before him, and the fact that those faces represented the highest echelon of company management, he knew that procuring these glands was a matter of grave importance. He also knew that there was only one answer to the question. It was yes, and that was the answer he gave.

Armed with Brown’s affirmative reply, Clowes made his fourth trip to Toronto in as many months. He evangelized to the Toronto team about Lilly’s experience in working with glandular products and his confidence in its ability to produce insulin in whatever quantities were desired. He explained that the company had already equipped a laboratory and had proceeded to arrange for massive shipments of fresh pancreas with the sprawling commercial abattoirs of the Midwest. Its legal department could assist the university in protecting their discovery by securing a patent. Just exactly

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