Review of and commentary on: Body Cavities: Function and Phylogeny, edited by G. Lanzavecchia, R. Valvassori, and M.D. Candia Carnevali. Mucchi Editore/Modena, 1995, 280 pp., ISBN 88-7000-259-4. “The time has come”, the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: Of shoes – and ships – and sealing wax – Of cabbages – and kings – And why the sea is boiling hot – And whether pigs have wings.” Louis Carroll