A BIOLOGICAL TIME BOMB?

"In the shaft leading to the [ventilation] grille a mindless, gropingmass of malodorous corruption was thrusting its way silently towardsthe surface. Buoyed up by bubbling foam it steadily rose. Single unitsin an obscene abrogation of normal order divided and made two. Twobecame four and four, eight. Endlessly supplied with food, each unitabsorbed nutrient and in a soft, ancient certainty fulfilled its onlypurpose - to multiply, to extend and to multiply...

"In the Coburg Street control room of the London Underground system,there was a full emergency... In a dozen tunnels, trains ground downto a halt. Hordes of terrified commuters made their way anxiously alongdark, musty tunnels to the lights and safety of the next station. Therewere minor explosions, fires, and the failure of a million wires andcables. As the dissolution of plastic proceeded and accelerated in rate,the elegant order of the system gradually turned into complete chaos.

"On the surface, in the freezing December air, the smell of the rottingplastic began to hang permanently in the air. A cloying, wet, rottingsmell similar to the smell of long-dead flesh. It filled streets andhomes, basements and factories. Traffic lights failed, causingirresolvable jams.... The breakdown of plastic spread into BroadcastingHouse.... A gas main with polypropylene seals on its pressure regulatorserupted into flame.... Plastic cold-water pipes softened, ballooned, andburst, flooding into shops, homes, and restaurants.

"Slowly and inexorably, the rate of dissolution increased; failuresoccurred in increasing succession until, within forty-eight hours, thecentre of London had become a freezing chaos without light, heat, orcommunication."