Think you know yourself fairly well? Think again, folks . . . because there’s some pretty weird stuff I’ll bet you didn’t know. Oh, sure, when Aunt Tillie’s left shoulder aches, that means it’s going to rain. And when you scarf down a huge bowl of Texas chili in two minutes flat, you can probably predict what’s going to happen to your digestive system in the next couple of hours.

But did you know . . . ?

. . . that in addition to fingerprints, you have a unique set of tongue prints? I wonder whether that means that in the near future, suspects in criminal investigations, applicants for gun permits, military personnel, etc., will be required to provide a tongue print for ID purposes. It seems pretty redundant, what with DNA testing, but just in case, maybe we should heed grandma’s advice: “Keep a civil tongue in your head, or else!”

. . . that you get a new stomach lining every three to four days? If you didn’t, the strong acids used by your stomach to digest food would also digest your stomach. Well, that makes me feel better about that bowl of Texas nitro.

. . . that your nose — while not as sensitive as a dog’s — can detect 50,000 different scents? I didn’t even know there were 50,000 different scents!

. . . and speaking of smelling, did you know that the source of smelly feet, like smelly armpits, is sweat? And that a pair of feet has 500,000 sweat glands, and can produce more than a pint of sweat a day? So why aren’t we sloshing around in that pint of sweat by the end of the day? And I wonder if the same is true of dogs, because my beautiful Sheltie, Toby, never had any body odor, but his paws always smelled like old gym shoes.

. . . that the air from a human sneeze can travel at speeds of 100 m.p.h. or more? Apparently it can. So next time you hear someone near you going “Aah . . . aah . . . aah . . .” — perhaps you’d better duck before the final “choo” comes flying your way.

. . . and finally, that a newborn baby has 350 bones, but an adult has only 206? That’s because bones apparently fuse together during growth. I’m not sure which ones fuse with which other ones, but I’d be willing to bet that it’s those missing 144 original bones that are causing all my aches and pains now.

(The source of all this incredible information: The Book of Unusual Knowledge, Publications International, Ltd., 2012.)

*. *. *

So that’s our anatomy lesson for today. Wasn’t it fun?

Hello, out there! I asked a question. It was fun, wasn’t it? Well? Isn’t anyone going to answer? There’s going to be a quiz, you know! Hellloooo??!!!

Okay . . . now, that’s just plain rude.

Brendochka
2/11/24