21. Children’s medicine once contained morphine.
If you were a baby in the mid-1800s, and screamed while you were teething, your parents may have given you the Soothing Syrup from Mrs. Winslow. This “medicine” stated that “it soothes the child, softens the gums, [and] relieves all pain.” It may have made a lot of soothing but it was also extremely dangerous— this concoction contained morphine, like many patent medicines of the time.
22. Water makes different pouring sounds depending on its temperature.
Hot water and cold water sound somewhat different when poured if you listen very closely. The heat changes water ‘s thickness, or viscosity, which affects the pitch of the sound it makes when it is poured. Cold water is thicker, thereby it creates a slightly higher-pitched sound.
