The Straight Dope 06/10/2005

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 06/10/2005

Dear Cecil:

Being a woman of the world, I've encountered quite a few
strange fetishes in my life. However, my brother Mikey
and his hopelessly blond girlfriend recently got into
coprophagia. I'm a pretty open-minded gal, but I draw the
line when I have to kiss the face that . . . well, you
know. Alas, pointing out the bizarre and repugnant nature
of his behavior has done little to change my lost
sibling's ways. After reading a column on your site that
referenced how food-service workers not washing their
hands after going to the bathroom could promote the
spread of disease, I started to wonder just how dangerous
coprophagia is. What are the risks? Beyond disease, what
could go wrong? --Mistress Anastasia in San
Francisco

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Cecil replies:

You discuss kinky sex practices with your brother? Man,
family dinner at your house must be a trip. Still,
revolting though we may find coprophagia (shit eating,
for you innocents), what's the Straight Dope for if not
to illuminate the universe's darker recesses? Herewith a
smattering of coprofacts, on the theory that forewarned
is forearmed:

The professional and for that matter the popular
literature on coprophagia is pretty thin. Marine
biologist Ralph Lewin, in his delightful (really) book
Merde: Excursions in Scientific, Cultural, and
Sociohistorical Coprology (1999), devotes a scant six
pages to the subject, and these are entirely given over
to a discussion of coprophagia among animals. Apparently
the practice is common among rabbits, some rodents, and
other herbivores that despite a cellulose-heavy diet lack
the elaborate digestive plumbing of ruminants and thus
must eat everything twice to obtain maximum nutritional
benefit. "As a result of what is called 'colonic
sorting,'" Lewin writes, "the nighttime feces of rabbits
are soft and black, consisting of partly digested grasses
and other leaves, and are nibbled straight from the anus
as a kind of breakfast." (Dogs are also notorious
coprophages, doing it mainly to gross out their
owners.)

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050610.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

I was driving into work today and passed a sign that said
"fresh oil." The sign was on a street that had been
freshly stripped of its blacktop and was down to what
looked like concrete. The question occurred to me: Why do
we put oil on streets like this? Does it dry out
otherwise? Does it help a fresh layer of asphalt adhere
somehow? I am sure that this will be a chip shot for you
to answer, hopefully just the question for a lazy summer
day. --Eric

SDSTAFF Una replies:

From your description, it sounds like the street in
question was concrete with an asphalt overlay, which was
being outfitted with something like Petromat. Petromat is
a synthetic polypropylene fabric (the trade name is owned
by BP/Amoco), which is placed between the road base and
the asphalt-concrete upper surface to provide a water
barrier, strengthen the road, and prevent cracking of the
overlay. When used during resurfacing, it's almost always
soaked with an oily-looking asphalt sealer (sometimes
called an asphalt emulsion or a bitumen sealer).
Sometimes, depending on the application, sand is spread
on top of the sealer and mat to help bind excess sealer
to the surface. The coating of sealer is called the "tack
coat." The term sealer notwithstanding, it's fair to say
one purpose of the stuff is to help the various road
layers adhere. In case you're wondering how much sealer
you'd need, Amoco recommends 0.2 to 0.3 gallons per
square yard.

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfreshoil.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 05/23/1986

Dear Cecil: 

Sometimes when I'm lying on my back looking at the sky or
the ceiling or some other light- colored background, I
swear I can see specks and what looks like little threads
floating by. They seem to move when I move my eyes,
leading me to believe they're actually on my eyes. Is
there some optical phenomenon that allows us to focus
that close? Is there a name for this effect? --Mike P.,
Dallas  

Dear Mike:  

Those little specks and threads aren't on your eyes, you silly,
they're IN your eyes. Doctors call them floaters, muscae 
volitantes (Latin for "fluttering flies"), or, if they're in a prosaic 
mood, spots. The specks are variously described as particles,
soot, spiders, cobwebs, worms, dark streaks, or rings.
Just about everybody experiences them, although they're
most common in people who are nearsighted. Usually--but
not always--they're harmless. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_311.html

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