Ballantine (03355-8) 1st printing July 1973 paperback. Cover by Chris Foss, 184 pages,$1.25 cover price. Condition is VG+: tight with mild tilt; spine is flat with a little edge-wear; age-tanning is mild and uniform; small chip gone from botom left of front cover (see scan); very light overall wear. Price in pen on first inside page - no stamps, marks or other writing - a clean copy.

Right-Handed Wilderness, by Robert Wells.
AHT 233 - Autoheterotroph 233 - a life form so highly adaptive that it can feed on literally anything. Starting as a chemical, it can develop into a plant, and end up as a plant-animal. Under control, it is an infinitely useful, even vital, source of high-grade protein. And, of course, extremely valuable. Given mobility, such as, for instance, a human carrier, it is infinitely dangerous. In fact, it presents the ultimate threat. This was the problem that Shroud, a doctor of some 200-odd years, was called upon to solve.
I really like this book, and strongly recommend it. This is the kind of surprise you hand to someone who thinks they've read all the good books...