Things Not Generally Known: a Popular Handbook of Facts Not Readily Accessible in Literature, History, and ScienceDavid Ames Wells |
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Page 8
... common every - day life , in which every word should be of Saxon de- rivation , and this too without giving to the sentences the least appear- ance of awkwardness or stiffness . Still it must not be concluded that the Latin portion of ...
... common every - day life , in which every word should be of Saxon de- rivation , and this too without giving to the sentences the least appear- ance of awkwardness or stiffness . Still it must not be concluded that the Latin portion of ...
Page 11
... common , even fastened with gold or silver chains . - PHILIP BLISS , Oxon . THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY . This celebrated collection is supposed to have been the largest col- lection which was ever brought together before the invention of ...
... common , even fastened with gold or silver chains . - PHILIP BLISS , Oxon . THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY . This celebrated collection is supposed to have been the largest col- lection which was ever brought together before the invention of ...
Page 12
... common wine - press . For a short time the paper was printed on but one side , the blank sides being pasted together . The only forms of books were the folio and quarto . Two or three hundred copies were then considered a large edition ...
... common wine - press . For a short time the paper was printed on but one side , the blank sides being pasted together . The only forms of books were the folio and quarto . Two or three hundred copies were then considered a large edition ...
Page 14
... common practice for the scribe at the end of his copy , to adjure all who transcribed from it to use the greatest care , and to refrain from the least alteration of word or sense . Authors more especially followed this course ; thus at ...
... common practice for the scribe at the end of his copy , to adjure all who transcribed from it to use the greatest care , and to refrain from the least alteration of word or sense . Authors more especially followed this course ; thus at ...
Page 15
... common book among them , or that every monk possessed one - far different indeed was the case ; a copy of the Old and New Testament often supplied the wants of an entire monastery , and in others , only LANGUAGE , LITERATURE , AND BOOKS ...
... common book among them , or that every monk possessed one - far different indeed was the case ; a copy of the Old and New Testament often supplied the wants of an entire monastery , and in others , only LANGUAGE , LITERATURE , AND BOOKS ...
Common terms and phrases
acid ancient animal appear Atlantic Atlantic Ocean atmosphere average bed of justice blue body bushel called carbonic carbonic acid cause cent centre century church color common contains court cubic death depth derived diameter distance earth effect England English English language fact fathoms feet fire France French Girondists glacier glass Greek Gregorian Calendar Gulf Stream half heat hence Henry horse hour Hudibras hundred inches increase iron Jacobin Club John Herschel Justinian king known Latin less light London Lord Louis XIV matter means miles minute mistletoe moon motion nearly observed ocean origin Papal tiara pass period persons plant pounds present probably produced quantity reign Roman round Saxon says Scotland Scriptoria side square star supposed surface temperature term tion velocity vessels waves weight wind word yards yellow
Popular passages
Page 58 - In the midst of this sublime and terrible storm, Dame Partington, who lived upon the beach, was seen at the door of her house with mop and pattens, trundling her mop, squeezing out the sea-water, and vigorously pushing away the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic was roused, Mrs. Partington's spirit was up; but I need not tell you that the contest was unequal. The Atlantic Ocean beat Mrs. Partington. She was excellent at a slop or a puddle, but she should not have meddled with a tempest.
Page 112 - Majesty, or to any person marrying a second time, whose husband or wife shall have been continually absent from such person for the space of seven years then last past, and shall not have been knownby such person to be living within that time...
Page 58 - Sidmouth, and of the conduct of the excellent Mrs. Partington on that occasion. In the winter of 1824, there set in a great flood upon that town ; the tide rose to an incredible height ; the waves rushed in upon the houses, and everything was threatened with destruction.
Page 266 - Swallows follow the flies and gnats, and flies and gnats usually delight in warm strata of air; and as warm air is lighter, and usually moister than cold air, when the warm strata of air are high, there is less chance of moisture being thrown down from them by the mixture with cold air; but when the warm and moist air is close to the surface, it is almost certain that, as the cold air flows down into it, a deposition of water will take place.
Page 116 - The True History of the State Prisoner, commonly called the Iron Mask...
Page 25 - On the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation ; illustrating such work by all reasonable arguments ; as for instance the variety and formation of God's creatures in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms ; the effect of digestion, and thereby of conversion ; the construction of the hand of man, and an infinite variety of...
Page 55 - The southwest counties of Scotland have seldom corn enough to serve them round the year; and the northern parts producing more than they need, those in the west come in the summer to buy at Leith the stores that come from the north; and from a word, whiggam, used in driving their horses, all that drove were called the whiggamors, and shorter the whiggs.
Page 154 - Clive — but these are warriors, and perhaps you may think there are greater things than war — I do not : I worship the Lord of Hosts. But take the most illustrious achievements of civil prudence. Innocent III., the greatest of the popes, was the despot of Christendom at thirty-seven. John de Medici was a cardinal at fifteen, and, Guicciardini tells us, baffled with his statecraft Ferdinand of Arragon himself.
Page 153 - Lepanto at twentyfive — the greatest battle of modern time ; had it not been for the jealousy of Philip, the next year he would have been Emperor of Mauritania. Gaston de Foix was only twenty-two when he stood a victor on the plain of Ravenna. Every one remembers Conde
Page 78 - Hobson kept a stable of forty good cattle, always ready and fit for travelling ; but when a man came for a horse, he was led into the stable, where there was great choice, but he obliged him to take the horse which stood next to the stable door ; so that every customer was alike well served according to his chance ; and every horse ridden with the same justice ; from whence it became a proverb when what ought to be your election was forced upon you, to say, Hobson's choice.