em, rendering the addict immune to most bacterial, fungal parasitic and viral agents of disease Moreover changes which occur in body cells due to aging or malignant transformation are rapidly recognized and the cells are eliminated Ingestion of spice also imparts an immunity to many common poisons One of the most sinking results of a diet high m melange is me 'Eyes of Ibab," the characteristic "blue on blue" eye color the whites and irises of me eyes turn a deep blue The precise mechanism of action is not known, but it is thought that certain of the components of melange ha\e affinity for the stroma of the sclera The 640 A axial period icity of the collagen fibrils mav entrap the melange components deposited because of the relative deficiency of water-binding sub stances in the sclera The oblique arrange ment and variability in collagen fibril diame ter also serve to maintain the entrapment of the melange components Visual acuity is not reduced by the deposition of the blue pigment In fact, in the white sun light of Arrakis, the pigment acts as a blue filter, increasing contrast and en hancmg vision The incomplete knowledge of the structure of melange prevents us from knowing all the interactions of this unique compound with the human body M S Further references MEI ANGL CHEMICAL COMPOSITION SPICE entries Alizhu Kohliker and Zhiemer Kramptz Unique Cells Present m the Brain Cortex of d Genetic Prescient Journal of Interplanetary Medicine 59 110-131 Sin Qadnn Static Barriers of ike Cerebral Cortex (Richese U Of Bailey Press) R M Cassius Ida Treae New Views ot an Old System Archives Quarterly Review 15 199 253 Javid sen Gam Analysis of the Time Space Awareness Centers of the Guild Steersman Journal of Psvchoperception 2^ 821 829 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION A com plex biopolymcr produced during the life cycle of the sdndworm of Arrakis The chemical structure ot this remarkable geri atric pharmaceutical agent has not yet been fully elucidated nor have attempts to produce the substance synthetically been sue cessful Reports of the molecular weight of melange have varied from 100 x 106 to 2 x 10" depending upon the method of deter mination This has led Nidim et al to speculate that melange is a heterogeneous mixture of polymers of various sizes The substance is hydrophihc, readily dissolved in aqueous solutions but not in organic solvents To our best knowledge the polymer is composed of subumts of proteoglycan-heme derivatives of cmnarmc acid Siharis has isolated subumts of the following structure through Shimmelson degradation 376 MENTATS HISTORY The exact nature of the polymerization ot these subumts is not known Since the isolat ed subunits have none of the genatne proper ties of melange we can assume that during the degradation process another biologically active chemical moiety is lost The deep blue color of melange is due in part to the presence of the heme group It is believed however, that the biologically active port