Sunstroke

"Follow me, follow," sang Michael Flanders and Donald Swann in their famous song of the Hippopotami, "down to the hollow and there let us wallow in glorious mud". Well, now we find out that these hefty beasts don't need the mud. They secrete a liquid that turns brown and shields them from the sun, as well as from the cuts that come from fighting. Just what we all need, you might say. A covering that keeps us tanned, and protected from the sun and bullies that kick sand in your face. Only you have to find a hippopotamus and wipe him or her down first to get the stuff. So maybe we're better off with the mud, after all.

"Follow me, follow," sang Michael Flanders and Donald Swann in their famous song of the Hippopotami, "down to the hollow and there let us wallow in glorious mud". Well, now we find out that these hefty beasts don't need the mud. They secrete a liquid that turns brown and shields them from the sun, as well as from the cuts that come from fighting. Just what we all need, you might say. A covering that keeps us tanned, and protected from the sun and bullies that kick sand in your face. Only you have to find a hippopotamus and wipe him or her down first to get the stuff. So maybe we're better off with the mud, after all.