Charles Darwin viewed the fossil record more as an embarrassment than as an aid to his theory.
When carbon dioxide occurs in large quantities, it is dangerous to health, because it interferes with normal breathing, lessening the escape of waste matter through the breath and preventing the access to the lungs of the oxygen necessary for life. Carbon dioxide is not poisonous, but it cuts off the supply of oxygen, just as water cuts it off from a drowning man.
The names of all the continents end with the letter they start with.
Without water, solid food material, although present in the body, would not be in a condition suitable for bodily use. An abundant supply of water enables the food to be dissolved or suspended in it, and in solution the food material is easily distributed to all parts of the body.
Tea was brought into Europe by the Dutch East Indis Company, in 1610. It was at least forty, and perhaps forty-seven, years later that England woke up to the fascinations of the new drink.
The decaying of wood and the rusting of metal are due to the action of air and moisture. When wood and metal are surrounded with a covering which neither air nor moisture can penetrate, decay and rust are prevented. Paint affords such a protective covering.
The strong people learn to glory, not in their strength, but in the fact that they are stronger. The weaker people gradually lose their sense of power, and accept a position of continuous and persistent inferiority.
When broccolis came to England from Italy, they were at first known under the names "sprout cauliflower," or "Italian asparagus."
The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.
Sylvia Miles had the shortest performance ever nominated for an Oscar with "Midnight Cowboy." Her entire role lasted only six minutes.
The band Duran Duran got their name from an astronaut in the 1968 Jane Fonda movie "Barbarella."
The micro-organisms which we call yeast are widely distributed in the air, and float around there until chance brings them in contact with a substance favorable to their growth, such as fruit juices or moist warm batter. Under the favorable conditions of abundant moisture, heat, and food, they grow and multiply rapidly, and cause the phenomenon of fermentation.
