246.HOW DID THE IDEA OF SANTA CLAUS ORIGINATE?
It seems almost a shame to learn the true facts about Santa Claus. We almost hate to discover what’s really behind some tradition we especially enjoy because that might spoil it for us.
Well, knowing about Christmas and Santa Claus shouldn’t spoil anything for you, but only make it more meaningful. Long before Christ was born, people used to celebrate the winter solstice as the birthday of the sun. This time of year was a holiday in many parts of the world before it became the Christmas celebration. That’s why some of the customs and traditions of Christmas go back to pagan times.
245.WHY DO WE BLINK OUR EYES?
When we drive a motor-vehicle in bad weather, it is very important to have the windscreen wiper working efficiently. Yet the best windscreen wiper ever made for any car can’t compare with the “windscreen wiper” nature has given us for our eyes!
The lids of our eyes, which move up and down when we blink, are our built-in windscreen wipers. The lids are made up of folds of skin, and they can be raised and lowered by certain muscles. But they move so rapidly that they don’t disturb our vision in any way.
244.WHAT IS TYPHOID FEVER?
As man learns how to keep himself more clean and sanitary practices spread through the world, some of our worst diseases are gradually eliminated. One of these is typhoid fever. Just 60 years ago, thousands upon thousands of people were dying from it every year. Now deaths from typhoid average only a fraction of what they were, and are now confined mainly to the more backward regions.
Typhoid fever is caused by a bacillus called Salmonella typhosa. It lives in the products of excretion. After it leaves the body, the bacilli can continue to exist, but they do not multiply.
