_C_l_a_s_s _M_e_t_h_o_d_s
	
	     UseMethod (name, object, ...)
	     NextMethod(name, object, ...)
	     methods(name)
	
	_D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n:
	
	     R possesses a simple generic function mechanism which
	     can be used for an object-oriented style of program-
	     ming.  Method despatch takes place based on the class
	     of the first argument to the generic function.
	
	     An R ``object'' is a data object which has a class
	     attribute.  A class attribute is a vector of character
	     strings giving the names of the classes which the
	     object ``inherits'' from.  When a generic function fun
	     is applied to an object with class attribute
	     c("first","second"), the system searches for a function
	     called fun.first and, if it finds it, applied it to the
	     object.  If no such function is found a function called
	     fun.second is tried.  If no class name produces a suit-
	     able function, the function fun.default is used.
	
	     The function class prints the vector of names of
	     classes which an object inherits from.  Correspond-
	     ingly, class<- sets the classes which an object inher-
	     its from.  unclass returns (a copy of) its argument
	     with its class information removed.
	
	     is.object returns TRUE if its argument has a class
	     attribute and FALSE otherwise.  inherits indicates
	     whether its first argument inherits from a class with
	     name equal to its second argument.
	
	_S_e_e _A_l_s_o:
	
	     class
	
	_E_x_a_m_p_l_e_s:
	
	     methods(summary)