Animal Parts in 5 Unusual Places    [17-06-2011] You are probably aware of where some of the animal parts that don’t make it to our plates go, such as the leather and wool that go into our clothes or the animal fats that go into our soaps. However, you may be surprised to find out there are many more inedible animal parts that make just about everything in our lives. Here is a list of five of the places we would not have thought to look! Bone china The expensive bone china teacups and pots are made with 25 percent kaolin clay, 25 percent Cornish stone, and 50 percent bone ash. Bone ash is made out of animal bones - most commonly cattle bones - that are crushed and processed with calcium phosphate to make bone ash. Bone china is very expensive and is much more fragile than porcelain. Tennis Racquet The strings on tennis racquets favored by many of the world’s top players are made out of cow intestines. The guts are cleaned and cut into strands, spun into strings, and chemically treated, preserved, and dried. It takes 4 cow guts for one racquet and it take about 6 weeks to complete the process. Fire Extinguisher The foam in fire extinguishers contain a protein called keratin that is extracted from cow hooves. The keratin keeps the foam from breaking apart by binding the bubbles of foam into a cohesive “blanket” that helps to smother the flames of a fire. Facial Treatment Sheep placenta can be made into a serum and applied on the face as a beauty treatment. The placenta is an organ linking the fetus to the mother in mammals for transfer of oxygen and nutrients. Sheep placenta is said to contain high amounts of protein and hormones. However, studies have found that this is not a very effective skin treatment. Perfume Ambergris, a secretion from the intestines of sperm whales, is either vomited or excreted through their feces. It is known to contain bits of undigested squid. At first, it smells strongly of feces, but over time it develops a sweet, earthy odor. It is commonly used as a staple ingredient in very expensive perfumes. Since the sperm whale is an endangered species, only ambergris found naturally washed up on shores can be used legally.     출처: 어린이 영자신문 키즈타임즈 (www.kidstimes.net)