Hip tails popot amuses spin their poo. ey while th
A study found that at any given time, poo might account for up to 20 per cent of the body weight of a snake.
On average, there are around the same number of bacteria in every human’s body as there are cells.
A flashlight fish’s organs have bacteria inside that make the animal’s eyes glow blue.
Archaeologists found the body of a mummified cat inside a cat-shaped statue that once wore a gold earring.
1 2 4 •• F A C T F R E N Z Y
Legend has it that Queen Cleopatra of ancient Egypt often bathed in donkey milk.
Some species of frog can’t vomit. Instead they eject their entire stomach and wipe off the organ while it hangs out of their mouth, before putting it back inside their body.
Stolen from a British palace, a solid gold toilet worth one million dollars was never recovered.
Russian folklore says that to keep milk fresh you should put a frog in the milk bucket.
Exhibits on the history of toilets around the world are on display at the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets in New Delhi, India.
On display
The chimera is a mythological monster with a live snake for a tail and a goat head growing out of its back, according to Greek legend.
FACT FRENZY • 125
The Meguro Parasitological Museum in Japan features one of the
126 • MUSEUMS
Put your mind to it
The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, features more than 1,300 ‘wet specimens’, meaning preserved parts of the human body, such as hearts, brains, stomach organs and more.
Go to page 64
One museum in Missouri, USA, features wreaths, brooches, rings, bracelets and art – all made of human hair. Located in Tasmania, Australia, the Pooseum features poo collections from many different animals.
Hairy situation
world’s longest tapeworms and a worm-infested dolphin stomach.
Visitors to the Musée des Égouts in Paris, France, can tour parts of the Parisian sewer system
MUSEUMS • 127
Archaeologists in Chile have found 800-yearold combs used to remove lice
French noblewomen in the 1700s wore towering wigs up to 60cm high and coated them in flour and grease that attracted fleas and lice… or sometimes even mice
Scurry this way
Go to page 146
One ancient Egyptian recipe meant to cure baldness included cooking a worm in clay and then rubbing it on a person’s head
The surgeon is ready
Go to page 66
To keep their hair from getting caught in ship equipment while at sea, sailors and pirates in the 1700s often coated their locks with tar
Setting sail
Visitors to the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Maryland, USA, can see a giant hair ball on display – it was successfully removed from a person’s stomach.
HAIR • 129
Scan here to enter FACTopia in our animated book trailer
Author: Paige Towler • Illustrator: Andy Smith Ages: 8+ years • Price: £10.99 Format: Hardback • Extent: 208 pages Size: 207 x 153 mm • Pub date: 8th Sep 2022 ISBN: 978-1-9137506-7-1 In this disgustingly marvellous world, you will discover facts about smelly sports, weird world records, rank rodents, vile Victorians, horrible medicine, gory gastronomy and more – all of which are connected in unexpected and hilarious ways! Did you know that sloths poo only once a week? Or that poo from crocodiles was sometimes used as make-up in ancient Rome? Or that ancient Romans sometimes purchased vials of gladiator sweat? Or that apes and monkeys sweat from their armpits just like humans do? Welcome to Gross FACTopia, a wonderland of fantastically foul facts, all of which are verified by Encyclopaedia Britannica! Every fact in this book is linked to the next in an ingenious trail of information, where you will slither from topic to topic in surprising and stomachchurning ways. Sometimes your path branches, and you can catapult forwards or creep backwards to a totally different (but still connected) part of the book. Follow your curiosity (and your nose) through this ridiculously revolting world of facts! Author Paige Towler is an author and editor based in Washington, D.C, USA. A former editor for National Geographic Kids Books, she writes poetry about animals doing yoga, weird facts about the world and silly stories about snakes and bats. Illustrator Andy Smith is an award-winning illustrator, and studied illustration at the University of Brighton and the Royal College of Art, London. His work combines illustration and typography to create images that have humour, energy and optimism executed with a handmade, hand-printed, tactile feel. He lives by the sea in Hastings, East Sussex.
• The third book in the bestselling FACTopia series, which has sold 40,000 copies to date. • Every one of the 400 facts in this book is linked, and you can choose your own path through this delightfully disgusting web of information. • Makes connections between a vast range of topics, including revolting Rome, terrible toilets, icky insects, unusual foods, stinky animals, malodorous Middle Ages, slimy sea creatures, and more. • Features more than 300 fabulously witty colour illustrations and photographs.
More in the series:
FACTopia! – Available Now Return to FACTopia! – Pub March 22 Animal FACTopia! – Coming Spring 23
BOUNCE SALES & MARKETING – 320 City Road, London EC1V 2NZ | Tel: 020 7138 3650 Fax: 020 7138 3658 | sales@bouncemarketing.co.uk ORDERS – Grantham Book Services, Trent Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 7X Tel: 01476 541000 | Fax: 01476 541060 orders@gbs.tbs-ltd.co.uk WHAT ON EARTH PUBLISHING – Allington Castle, Castle Road, Maidstone, ME16 0NB | Tel: 01732 464621 | info@whatonearthbooks.com whatonearthbooks.com / britannica-books.com ISBN 978-1-913750-67-1
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