ing the segment to the entrance of sand, causing irritation One worm eventually became sufficiently uncomfortable to break off the battle and retreat Although the fight was not directly fatal, occasionally sand caused sufficient irritation to allow entrance of an as yet undetermined virus, eventually resulting in the death of the worm METABOLISM OF THE ADULT WORM The adult G arraknis was a true autotroph producing all of its nutritional needs from inor game compounds on the planet surface The energy to dnve the synthetic reactions was obtained by the travel of the worm through the sand which caused an electrostatic charge differential The resulting electrons passed to an electron acceptor believed to be a cupn cyanide compound, the reduced form of which accumulated in the worm body The electron donor was probably SiC>2, although the pre cise mechanism is unknown Molecular OKy gen was evolved dunng the reaction The presence of water caused the electrons to be discharged abnormally because the amons and cations on the worm body dissolved in the water Thus, water was a poison to the worm The heat from the friction of the travel of the worm through sand drove the synthetic reactions to completion Most of the nutrients produced were gaseous methane, ethane, propane and butane, butyric acid, propiomc acid, acetic acid, and formic acid Excess gases not utilized for nutrients were literally ignited by the heat of sand travel Thus, the worm always had a flame deep within the body cavity The excess heat also aided in driving the synthetic reactions, keeping the nutrients in gaseous form for adsorption, and vaporizing any stray r^O Our knowledge of the metabolism of the sandworm is necessarily incomplete, not only because of the size of the creature, but also because of the presence of many acidic com pounds in the worm body Besides the organic acids, concentrated hydrochloric and sulfunc acids have also been detected In some way the living worm buffered itself against these acids, but once the worm died, the body was rapidly digested by them The most resistant structures were the teeth, which were garnered by the Fremen to become the legendary cryskmves One of the mysteries of the metabolism of the sandworm is the source of hydrogen m the organic compounds Obviously it could not come from water One theory is that molecular hydrogen was fixed, although the reactions have not been discovered Some research undertaken, before the vir- SHA1HULUD 456 SHAI HULUD tual disappearance of the worm as a result of the ecological transformation of Arrakis, suggests that the complicated internal chemical transformations also produced oxygen as a by product rather than consuming ft in the process of metabolism Certainly it is well known mat much of the oxygen on Arrakis after the original prehistoric catastrophe was denved from the sandworm, despite the apparent violation of the second law of thermodynamics One authority termed the worm an "oxygen factory" With only stunted sandworms or sandtrout to study at the present time, many of the questions concerning the worm may never be solved M S Further etftnacts- *ELANOE, SPKE, ARRAKIS OXYGEN SAGA B Gwever, A Prologemena and Tentative Hy pothesis Concerning Apparent Violations of the Second Law of Thermodynamics in the Production Rather Than Consumption of Oxygen in fte Metabolic Processes of Skaihuludata gigaiiBes," Second Impenal Conference on Chemistry* CaJadaa SHA1-HOLUD AS LEVIATHAN.