package UNIVERSAL;
+our $VERSION = '1.00';
+
# UNIVERSAL should not contain any extra subs/methods beyond those
# that it exists to define. The use of Exporter below is a historical
# accident that should be fixed sometime.
=item UNIVERSAL::isa ( VAL, TYPE )
-C<isa> returns I<true> if the first argument is a reference and either
-of the following statements is true.
+C<isa> returns I<true> if one of the following statements is true.
=over 8
-=item
+=item *
+
+C<VAL> is a reference blessed into either package C<TYPE> or a package
+which inherits from package C<TYPE>.
+
+=item *
-C<VAL> is a blessed reference and is blessed into package C<TYPE>
-or inherits from package C<TYPE>
+C<VAL> is a reference to a C<TYPE> of Perl variable (e.g. 'HASH').
-=item
+=item *
-C<VAL> is a reference to a C<TYPE> of perl variable (er 'HASH')
+C<VAL> is the name of a package that inherits from (or is itself)
+package C<TYPE>.
=back