Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 08:58:31 -0800 (PST)
From: Jerry Friedman 
Subject: Re: (urth) rationale for funky frogs and pedantic brush


--- maa32  wrote:
> Someone asked why I bothered with the trematode/frog thing.  Jerry
> previously 
> commented that he hadn't seen anything that indicated these polyploid
> froggies 
> X. Leavis might have multiple limbs... but that article indicates that
> this is 
> a common mutation they experience.  Obviously it has nothing (or little)
> to do 
> with their polyploidy and more to do with their regenerative powers.

Or with their process of development when it's interfered with.  The
article was interesting but I doubt very much that it has anything to
do with the Neighbors' or the hus's or felwolves' extra limbs. 
...

> We are both saying the same thing about new life to decayed things, I'm
> just 
> saying the new sun is granting a different kind of life rather than a 
> resurrection. I guess there is no sense discussing it further - we are
> "kind 
> of" saying the same thing.
> Marc

And the brush is at least partly made of plant material (wood).

A couple plant-animal ambiguities that I haven't seen mentioned yet:
the Claw that's a thorn, and the names Chenille and Marrow (the
the ambiguity of both names is explicitly pointed out, but not
interpreted by the Vironese characters as sexual ambiguity--I'll
admit to wondering, though, whether Chenille has XY chromosomes and
testicular feminization syndrome, which is consistent with her being
tall and never having children).  Wolfe seems to like this plant-
animal theme--I'm almost tempted to call it a trope.

Jerry Friedman

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