On the Ballpoint

The British Medical Journal recently reported the bizarre story of a woman who accidentally swallowed a pen a quarter of a century ago. 25 years later, the pen was discovered and appeared in scans to be still intact. When it was removed, to the surprise of the patient and her doctors, the pen still wrote. While this gastric adventure is an attention-grabbing and extreme tale of the enduring qualities of writing instruments, it illustrates the product's uncanny ability to stand the test of time.