Parts

Under the spreading chestnut tree The village smithy stands, The smith a gloomy man is he-- McCormick has his glands, So sang ribald young interns, stage comedians, stag-line chucklers, when (in 1922) Harold F. McCormick, famed harvester manufacturer, had been rejuvenated by Victor D. Lespinasse, Chicago gland expert. Last week this Dr. Lespinasse, protesting that he had received "entirely too much publicity" from his services to Mr. McCormick, issued nevertheless some statements. The price of parts, he said, was coming down. When asked what parts he referred to, he made it clear that he meant the parts of that curious taxicab of the soul, the human body. He foresaw the day, he intimated, when parts would be obtainable at standard prices from agencies in most large towns and service stations along the highways. In the minds of his listeners arose the vision of hilarious advertisements offering for rent quaint objects "slightly used but still in good condition," putting up for sale parts "for which the owners had no further use"; of parts which might be exchanged for other parts.

"I have a stack of letters here," said Dr. Lespinasse, "as high as your head from men who want to sell their glands. Some of the prices are very reasonable, too. . . . There are not many buyers. When gland operations become more popular, naturally the market will stabilize."

"At present the only real standardization of price is in the human blood. Ten years ago, when transfusions were rare, the price of blood was about $100 a pint. Today it is around $35.

"In the old days a man could sell his body to an undertaker. Many a down and outer thus kept himself alive by selling his corpse, and furthered Science by dying. Now traffic in human bodies in Illinois and many other states is controlled by law. The state claims all unidentified bodies and parcels them out to medical schools for laboratory use."