Page:Amazing Stories Volume 15 Number 10.djvu/59



N spite of the very great advances made in in the fields of medical research in the past centuries, many superstitious and erroneous conceptions remain prevalent today. Their origins are lost in antiquity as old as the world itself. Since the dim dawn of time they have been handed down from father to son until finally they lodged in early medical journals and in the minds of the people as absolute fact. Some of the most widespread misconceptions are:

That the heart is located on the left side of the body.—Most people, including the well-informed, will slate unhesitatingly that the heart is usually found on the left side of the body. Yet this is far from the truth. The misconception arises because the left ventricle, the largest of the four chambers, is on the left side of the heart; therefore the beating of the heart is felt more readily on the left side of the body. The truth is that the heart is almost exactly in the middle of the body.

That eating green apples will cause a stomach ache.—For centuries this popular myth has persisted, despite the valiant attempts of medical researchers to prove otherwise. The reason behind this fallacious belief is simply that unripe fruit is harder to chew, and is usually insufficiently masticated when swallowed. It is this which causes the stomach ache, not the unripe fruit. If the apple or fruit is eaten slowly and chewed sufficiently, the stomach is absolutely indifferent as to whether it is ripe or not.

That beef tea is nourishing.—A very widespread belief, but very much unfounded. Actually, beef tea contains so little nourishment that six large cupsful have less food value than one slice of bread.

That singeing the hair is beneficial, causing it to grow more abundantly.—This is one that has most of the barbers fooled to this day. It is almost axiomatic that singeing the hair is an ideal way to invigorate it. Nothing could be more from the truth. It is believed that singeing aids the hair by "sealing" the hair ends and preventing the loss of various vitalizing fluids. Since no fluids "exude" from the ends of the hair, this precaution is obviously unnecessary.

That it is more dangerous to prick yourself with a pin than with a needle.—The basis of this common belief lies in the fact that needles are made from steel while pins are made from brass. But a wound from a pin is no more injurious than that made by a needle. The important thing is what germs are introduced into the wound, not what caused it.

That pressing the upper lip or placing a piece of ice at the base of the neck will retard or stop a nosebleed.—In a vast majority of cases nosebleeds stop themselves, so any attempted remedy will generally come in for a slice of the credit. It has been shown that these most common preventatives are merely wastes of energy. Natural coagulation does the real work in stopping excessive flows of blood.