Dear Paul, Lynn, and other Flying Pig Supporters;-
    Paul, that is a great piece of research. I have printed it out and may
deliver it as part of the third annual FP sympigium. I may take this opportunity
to announce a new Flying Pig species. Well, not a species; but a "Form Of".
Several people report seeing an all white flyer. I am describing this phenomenon
in the "Swine Master's Journal". The new critter will be known as Porkas
aeronauticus alba Weil 2000.
Art

"Monfils, Paul" wrote:

>       It must be spring!  I just saw my first robin of the season; the maple
> trees outside are sporting myriad red buds; and the annual Conch-L salute to
> porcine aeronautics is in full swing.  Those among us who have not yet had
> the opportunity to endure, OOPS - enjoy! - this recurrent theme may well be
> wondering what possible connection could exist between flying pigs and
> crawling snails.  I myself have pondered this question at length, losing
> several months of sleep in the process.  Last year about this time, I
> finally decided to do some serious research, in an effort to settle once and
> for all that overriding question that has vexed and befuddled humankind for
> so many centuries - are flying pigs relevant to conchology?  I structured my
> investigation around the hypothesis that any long-standing relationship
> between gastropods and aeropigs would likely be revealed in taxonomy.  I
> wasn't too optimistic because, frankly, I sided with those who doubted the
> existence of the snail-snout connection.  But I decided to approach the
> question scientifically, putting aside preconceived expectations and letting
> the data speak for itself.  For the edification of those who may have missed
> my original paper in the prestigious Journal of Molluscoporcine Symbiosis, I
> re-post below a few excerpts from my original data:
>
>      I began my exploration with the land mollusks.  Pigs, even flying ones,
> are essentially terrestrial (excluding of course the subspecies marinus), so
> if any relationship existed, I theorized it might be found here.  I had
> hardly begun my investigation when I happened upon the little Philippine
> snail Macroceras cresPIGnyi.  Interesting, I thought, but hardly conclusive!
> Perhaps a fluke.  Delving further into the nomenclature of terrestrial
> gastropods, I soon located Xanthomelon pachySTYlum.  Hmmmm, I pondered,
> could this be a veiled reference to porcine habitat?  A brief additional
> search turned up the genus HelmintHOGlypta.  I was starting to think I was
> really onto something!  The clincher though, was the land snail HelicoSTYla
> pitHOGaster.  Surely two obvious porcine references in a single Molluscan
> name could not be mere coincidence!  Excitedly I turned my attention to the
> marine mollusks.  And there they were!  Conus litHOGglyphus and Conus
> ximenes maHOGani.  The gastropod genus HAMinoea and the bivalve genus CHAMa
> were there, not to mention Calliostoma cunningHAMi, Cypraea HAMmondae and
> Fulgoraria HAMillei.  AND Siphonaria BACONi - how could I have overlooked
> such an obvious pattern?  Porcine habitat was repeatedly commemorated in
> such names as STYliola and Terebra STYlata.  Latiaxis nakayaSUI provided
> another invaluable clue.  But what really settled the matter for me, what
> drew me over to the porcine side of the fence, what caused me to oink in
> unbridled excitement, what led me to acknowledge that Art is a prophet, not
> a character, was the sudden realization that many of these names were
> confected by non other than SOWerby himself!  The data speaks for itself.
> My case rests.