We rose. I nodded towards the photograph of Paul Ehrlich, remarking, _'Geld, Geduld, Geschick, Gluck'-_money, patience, skill and luck, his four ingredients for successful research.

'Who taught you that?' Domagk asked as we reached the door.

'When I was seventeen, I worked in the Inoculation Department of St Mary's Hospital in London-'

'So young! You will soon be a professor,' he exclaimed humorously.

'I was only a technician.' I had been the lab boy, the equivalent of an office boy, who washed the glassware, prepared the flat, round Petri dishes for growing bacteria, and of course made the tea. 'Before Professor Ehrlich died during the war, he had been on very friendly terms with one of the bacteriologists at St Mary's-Professor Alexander Fleming. Perhaps you've heard of him?'

Domagk shook his head. 'I only know the chief of the Inoculation Department, Sir Almroth Wright. He came to visit us here at Elberfeld, you know.' That must have been after my time. Knowing Wright's disdain for chemistry, and particularly the systematized German variety, his reflections on Domagk's lavishly-equipped labs would have reverberated throughout St Mary's. 'By the way-' Domagk nodded towards Ehrlich's photograph. 'It's a myth that he had to investigate 605 arsenicals before discovering "Salvarsan". But he examined a good number, and slaughtered whole armies of mice.

In the corridor outside we found Professor Hцrlein emerging from the lab where we had met. From the way Domagk stepped back I sensed Hцrlein was an important person in the factory. But he said to me pleasantly enough, 'You've come a long way to our city of Wuppertal, Herr Elgar. I hope you'll find it an interesting place.' Everyone seemed to damn Wuppertal with the faint, non-committal praise of _eine interessante Stadt._ 'The Elberfeld Rathaus has an excellent museum, and there is a remarkable old church in the Kolk. You have already visited our splendid Lauretuiskirke, doubtless.'