Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: Version 1.0 Netnews CMS/BITNET 5/19/85; site PSUVM.BITNET Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!rochester!cmu-cs-pt!cadre!psuvax1!psuvm.bitnet!cjc From: CJC@psuvm.BITNET Newsgroups: net.origins Subject: Re: Re: Isolation and Unique Species Message-ID: <1773CJC@psuvm> Date: Sat, 25-May-85 14:12:09 EDT Article-I.D.: psuvm.1773CJC Posted: Sat May 25 14:12:09 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 30-May-85 01:02:28 EDT Lines: 65 Dan Boskovich recently posted a lengthy article under this heading; those who read it may be interested in knowing that everything in Dan's article came from "The Genesis Flood" by John C. Whitcomb, Jr., Th.D. and Henry M. Morris, Ph.D., (Copyright 1961.) The quotations Dan gave are exactly as they appear in this book and all non-quoted ideas are very close paraphrases. I can understand not wanting to type in lots and lots of bibliographic references, but when the entire article comes from just one book (with direct quotes even, he had to have the book beside him when typing) I think the source should be named. I was quite disappointed at the limited source of information of the only person who really tried to reply on this topic; the book is very strongly religious (many chapters are entirely biblical interpretation - Whitcomb is, after all, a professor of theology), and it attempts to explain everything but so briefly that it explains nothing satisfactorily. The question of how was vegetation reestablished after the flood is dealt with in a few paragraphs about the possible survival of plants in floating masses (rafts) of vegetation, or by chance shallow burial, or as seeds included in the ark in food supplies, then a longer description of the olive tree which is apparantly a tough adaptable plant which reproduces readily from cuttings. Perhaps Dan could find a reference which explains the survival of the many species of cactus which are adapted only to dry conditions; this reference should also explain the geographical distribution of cactus - according to my gardening and wild-flower books, the many species of cactus are, with possibly one exception, confined to the desert regions of America. The deserts of all other parts of the world have distinctly different vegetation. And then he could consider the low-bush blueberry which is extremely difficult to propagate either by seeds or by cuttings. The plants spread by underground stems, and I read some years that on the basis of the slow rate of spreading some of the largest clumps were in contention for the oldest living plant on earth. As for the distribution of animals, Morris and Whitcomb go on for some time on migration possibilities, then end with this paragraph: "The more we study the fascinating story of animal distribution around the earth, the more convinced we have become that this vast river of variegated life forms, moving ever outward from the Asiatic mainland, across the continents and seas, has not been a chance and haphazard phenomenon. Instead, we see the hand of God guiding and directing these creatures in ways that man, with all his ingenuity, has never been able to fathom, in order that the great commission to the postdiluvian animal kingdom might be carried out, and "that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth." (Gen. 8:17)" In other words, the koala, the wombat, the bandicoot, the duck-billed platypus, and all the other marsupials are in Australia, and nowhere else, because God wanted them there; and rabbits and deer - good travelers excellently suited to Australia and New Zealand - were not there because God did not want them there (and he was right, wasn't he, see how much trouble they've caused :-)) If this net is for discussing the *SCIENTIFIC* origins of the present world, then please let us have no more appeals to "The Genesis Flood". --Carolyn J. Clark Bitnet: CJC at PSUVM UUCP : :allegra, akgua, ihnp4:!psuvax!CJC@PSUVM.BITNET ARPA : cjc%psuvm.BITNET@Berkeley