Hello all, new guy here.

As long as people are gonna go so far as to speculate about the significance (if any) of Sawyer's hand-crushed tree frog, why not throw out the theory that Eko had something entwined inside his little beard nubbins? I myself am curious as to what the act of cutting them off and giving them to Henry Gale was all about (I don't recall if he handed them to Gale or simply dropped them to the floor)--possibly some kind of Nigerian tradition, a show of honesty in one's word? Maybe a symbolic gesture to himself, a reminder that he killed two men, and the act of winding them up on his face was a reminder of what he did (two nubbins=two dead men), like how one would tie a string to their finger to remind them of something. Or were there little pills or something in them, hidden away, something that Mr. Gale could use in an escape attempt? Hey, like I said, it makes as much sense to me as a crushed tree frog. Actually, I think the two nubbins=two dead men theory might have answered my own question. Perhaps this is something done in Africa as not only a reminder to the killer but also to show the observer what he has done. Have to look that one up. He cut them off because he doesn't have to carry the burden now that he has confessed to someone he believes was associated with the dead men. Man, I'm a genius...of nothing!

Whoops, looks like Jeditoad beat me to my own theory. Crap.