318.WHO DISCOVERED HYPNOSIS?
When one person has power or authority—such as a policeman, teacher, or government official, he can make other people obey certain commands he gives. But he can’t make them think or feel any way he wishes. The amazing thing about hypnosis is that a person who is hypnotized can actually be made to feel and think as the hypnotist wishes.
For example, a person who is hypnotized can be made to shiver as if he feels cold, or perspire as if he feels hot; his face can be made to turn white as with fright, or red as with embarrassment. He can even be made to hate his favorite food, or enjoy one which he always disliked. However, a person can rarely be hypnotized if he doesn’t wish to be; and he can’t be made to do something illegal or immoral, if he wouldn’t do such things normally.
317.WHERE DID THE COCONUT ORIGINATE?
The coconut is the nut of a palm tree and is known and useful to millions of people. Now here’s a strange thing about this tree. Nobody knows where it originated! At the dawn of history this tree was already growing in every tropical land and seems to have always been part of the landscape. Scientists believe that the nuts were carried in ancient times by the ocean tides and by man from one tropical country to another. In this way, they spread everywhere so long ago that we can’t trace them back to any one place!
316.WHERE DID BANANAS ORIGINATE?
The banana is one of the oldest known fruits in history. The earliest men of whom there is any record already knew and enjoyed this fruit!
It is believed that the banana first grew in southern Asia and that through many centuries it spread through the East and to the West. The Mohammedans called the banana tree a paradise tree, and the Hindus believed the banana tree was sacred to their goddess Kali.
