261.WHY DO PEOPLE STAMMER?
Probably the most complex and difficult musical instrument that can be imagined is the apparatus in human beings that produces speech! In order for sounds and letters to be formed, this entire apparatus must be used. This includes the abdomen, chest, larynx, mouth, nose, diaphragm, various muscles, tongue, palate, lips, and teeth!
The most important ones used in making spoken sounds are the muscles of the mouth, the palate, lips, and tongue. The only reason we can “play” this instrument so well, is that we learned how to do it when we were most adaptable during early childhood, and because we have practiced it ever since! Obviously, if we can’t play this instrument (the vocal apparatus) with perfect coordination, then something happens to our speech. It comes out wrong and we stammer.
260.WHY ARE PEOPLE AFFECTED BY COFFEE?
When coffee was first introduced in Europe during the second part of the seventeenth century, there was a great deal of controversy about it. Many “learned doctors” announced that coffee was a strong poison and should be prohibited. Others insisted it was a good thing to drink coffee, and “coffee-houses” sprang up everywhere.
Coffee can actually act as a poison when it is given in large doses to animals in laboratory tests. It can also produce toxic effects in small children. But for adults who drink it in moderation, it is definitely not a poison.
259.WHO WAS MOHAMMED?
In the early part of the seventh century, a young Arab felt himself divinely inspired to found a new religion and go forth as its prophet. This great man, whose name was Mohammed, sowed the seeds of a faith that has become one of the three foremost world religions.
Mohammed proclaimed the one God of the Jews and Christians to be the only true God. He placed himself beside Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Mohammed called his religion Islam (which means submission to the will of God).
