Dracotological Book, Foreword

Dracotology(Draco=Dragon ology=the study of) is a field of study practiced by people who are few and far between. One of its practitioner, Dr. Volodimir Kapusianyk, is currently in a nursing home in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. For many years, he has been trying to write the "definitive dracotology textbook", but because of his poor condition, he has been able to do little more than the foreword. Dr Kapusianyk sent his foreword to InQuest magazine for them to print, hoping that a dragon lover would read it and become inspired by his words, perhaps inspired enough to pick up the torch of Dracotology.

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Excerpt from - Dragons: Our Fiery Friends

By Volodimir Kapusianyk, Ph.D.

    Foreword


	Relegated to myth by many cultures, dragons did, in fact, exist - but now, alas, are 
extinct, the last having died in captivity in 1911 in a small traveling zoo in Nebraska, 
where, as a teenager, I saw it. It was pitiful creature, scrawny, barely 8 feet long, not 
a wisp of smoke coming from it, and, greatest indignity of all, mistakenly labeled a 
"Rare Winged Garter Snake." But I knew better, and on that fateful day chose to devote my 
life to the study of these magnificent creatures. Many critics deride dracotology, 
claiming a creature like a dragon, apparently reptilian yet able to fly and breath fire,
is scientifically impossible. 

	The key, however, is that phrase "apparently reptilian." Yes, dragons looked reptilian
- but they were not. They were, in fact, a phylum unto themselves, like no other creature 
that ever walked the Earth. 

	This textbook contains all I have learned or theorized about dragons. Chapter 2, for 
example, deals with flight. To fly, a creature must generate enough lift to counteract the 
force of gravity exerts on its mass. To fly really well, you must maximize lift and 
minimize mass. Dragon's huge wings generated plenty of lift, and they minimized their mass 
in two ways. First, their bones, like birds', were almost hollow. Second, they were made, 
not of the usual mixture of calcium and other minerals, but from long chain of hydrocarbon: 
a natural form of very strong, very light plastic which also formed their incredibly tough 
scales (Chapter 9).
 
	In fact, their whole bodies were awash in hydrocarbons. They had large internal bladders 
filled with methane, a natural byproduct of digestion in human, and more so in dragons. 
Methane is lighter than air, so this bladder, like a giant internal balloon, reduced mass 
(and enhanced flight) even more. 

	Methane is also flammable, and dragons evolved a way to spew flaming methane for 
defensive purposes (Chapter 14). Study of dragon fossils (Chapter 5) reveals that dragons had 
a specialized organ in the roof of their mouth in which a jagged nugget of iron, coalesced 
from iron in the dragon's bloodstream, hung suspended with pieces of flint, which the dragon 
ingested as needed. When the dragon exhaled methane, the iron and flint tumbled around, 
generating sparks, which ignited the gas. 

	Dragons' peculiar body chemistry also made their blood highly corrosive (Chapter 10). 
Essentially, they were walking chemical factories, their bloodstream filled with toxic waste. 

	Finally, in Chapter 21, we will examine in detail how dragons' growing dependence for 
food on virgins provided by local villagers made them fat, lazy and easy prey for 
glory-hungry knights, who drove them into a long, slow decline that ended at last with the 
death of that poor, bedraggled specimen in Nebraska.

	Dracotology is a difficult but rewarding field of study. I hope you enjoy your journey 
through it.