02486cam a22003253u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000330011324500200014626400510016630000470021733600260026433700260029033800360031649000560035250000310040850801270043952014130056653400450197965300200202483000560204485600430210099900170214325234UtSlPG20260610133558.0mcr n260607r2008||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aGarrett, Randall,d1927-198710aCum Grano Salis 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2008  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier1 aProduced from Astounding Science Fiction, May 1959.  aRelease date is 2008-04-29  aProduced by Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht, LN Yaddanapudi and
the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net  a"Cum Grano Salis" by Randall Garrett is a science fiction novella written in the late 1950s. The story revolves around a group of astronauts facing dire circumstances on an alien planet, highlighting themes of survival, human resilience, and the unexpected consequences of encounters with extraterrestrial life. The title itself, which translates to "with a grain of salt," underscores the caution and skepticism the characters must exercise as they navigate their challenging situation.  The narrative follows Colonel Fennister and the crew of an exploratory mission to Alphegar IV, who find themselves in a precarious predicament after a lightning strike destroys their food supplies, leaving them with only a month’s worth of rations while awaiting rescue. As they grapple with the threat of starvation, they explore the native flora for potential food sources. Only Broderick MacNeil, a spaceman on the crew, discovers that he can consume a native fruit, the banana-pear, without harmful effects, leading to a critical survival tactic. However, as others try the fruit, they suffer fatal consequences, revealing a deadly chelating agent within it that the others were unaware of. The story captures the conflicts arising from desperation and survival instincts and ultimately reflects on how the body’s chemistry can differ significantly between species. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  nOriginal publication data not identified  aScience fiction 0aProduced from Astounding Science Fiction, May 1959.40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25234  c66235d66235