I'm reading el's in the dictionary today. Just found something singularly gross:
lipochrin
Makes me think of leprechauns for some odd reason.
Anyway, read this definition and keep your eyes on the frogs:
"(n.) A yellow coloring matter, soluble in ether, contained in the small round fat drops in the retinal epithelium cells. It is best obtained from the eyes of frogs."
Wonder what it could be used for? How long it's been around? What kind of frogs are used? Are the extrators aware of the fact that our frog population is diminishing? How important are frog eye extractions? What is the process? Are we looking at a vat of frogs' eyes? Is anyone else thinking Macbeth?
lipo·chrin
lipo that's easy-- a root word for a fat.
chrin.. makes me think of chrome. a root word for color (specifically: yellows, reds and greens.. the metal chrome gets it name from the various oxides of chrome (chrome yellow, chrome red, and chrome green)
(fat(that is) colored (yellow).. works for me..
maybe is was used to dye bacteria or other organic matter to make it easier to see under a microscope? ether is poisonous.. it can't be to make a food dye. it doesn't seem like it would ever be easy enough to collect enough to use it as a textile dye. Yellow is a pretty easy color to extract from many plant materials.
is there any more info in the dictionary you are reading?
i don't see it the single volume Oxford universal (but the OUD does confirm lipo is from the greek for fat. )
>Is anyone else thinking Macbeth?
nope..
Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."
I knew it was eye of newt, tsuwm, but the idea of possibly combining amphibian parts to execute a purpose caused me to think of Macbeth. Sheesh. Talk about newtpickers!
yes, and isn't it so that "newtpickers" always know exactly what you meant; they just thrill to the conceit that others will be inexcusably confused by what you've said, and they are setting everything aright.
I'm with ya, Dub-Dub. Besides, I'm sure Willie changed the recipe to protect the innocents
so how do we know it was really "eye of newt" and not "eye of frog, toe of newt"?
Yeah, Connie. Thanks. Glad you got my drift.
But just imagine...
In reply to:
small round fat drops in the retinal epithelium
Some person is harvesting the small round fat drops from the retinal epithelium of a frog's eye. Suppose it had been a very tiny frog. The tiny frog would have an extremely small eye. And then this harvester is harvesting even tinier small round fat drops from the extremely small retinal epithelium of that eye. I'm curious enough that I would like to know how this was done and at what point in history it was first done--and how it came to be desired. This is just as interesting to me as the efforts of Madame Curie.
I just wonder and wonder how people get these ideas!