[BITList] Began with a beetle

[HUGH]

John,

Another of the same, though a worker in a smaller scale.  I studied 
biochemistry at one point, though only as an adjunct to another subject, and 
it appeared later in a course on control engineering, of all things.  The 
various cycles in the biochemistry of the body lend themselves to a study of 
control engineering.  We were studying a process via a reaction between 
salivary amylase and a reagent, analysing the resulting trace on a paper 
tape in engineering terms. This amylase was chosen because it is readily 
obtained from saliva.  I got a flat line and an empty reagent bottle, and a 
peevish note from my tutor after he read my report.  My saliva lacks 
amylase, and I have that in common with dogs.  Had I not been an engineer, I 
might have noted that this is the case with some people, but that would have 
involved reading the instructions before all else failed.

Hugh.