Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:25:24

Excerpt #1, from A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar, by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer

…F.] Q. In a long straight STREET, WHY do the houses seem to be SMALLER and smaller the FURTHER they are OFF? A. Because the further any house is off, the more acute will be the angle made by its perpendicular height with our eye. Thus in the last figure– If A B be a house at the top of the street, its perpendicular height will be that of the line A B. If C D be a house at the bottom of the street, its perpendicular height will appear to be that of E F. Q. Why does a man on the TOP of a MOUNTAIN or church spire seem to be no BIGGER than a CROW? A. Because the angle made by the perpendicular height of the man (at that distance) with our eye, is no bigger than the perpendicular height of a crow close by. [Illustration: Let AB be a man on a distant mountain or spire, and CD a crow close by: The man will appear only as high as the line CD, which is the height of the crow.] Q. Why does the MOON appear to us so much BIGGER than the STARS, though in fact it is a great deal SMALLER?…

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Excerpt #2, from Robot nemesis, by E. E. Smith

…a new ray-projector–tell them anything except the truth!" “All right. I have sufficient authority to see that your requests are granted, I think.” And thus it came about that when the immense Terrestrial Contingent lifted itself into the air Ferdinand Stone was in his private laboratory in the flagship, surrounded by apparatus and equipment of his own designing, much of which was connected to special generators by leads heavy enough to carry their full output. Earth some thirty hours beneath them, Stone felt himself become weightless. His ready suspicions blazed. He pressed Martin’s combination upon his visiphone panel. “What’s the matter?” he rasped. “What’re they down for?” “It’s nothing serious,” the admiral assured him. “They’re just waiting for additional instructions about our course in the maneuvers.” “Not serious, huh?” Stone grunted. “I’m not so sure of that. I want to talk to you, and this room’s the only place I know where we’ll be safe. Can you come down here right away?” “Why, certainly,” Martin assented. “I never paid any attention to our course,” the physicist snapped as his visitor entered the laboratory. “What was it?” “Take-off exactly at midnight of June nineteenth,” Martin recited,…

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Excerpt #3, from The Pirates Own Book, by Charles Ellms

…men to arms without any show of timidity, dropping a first-rate oath, that it was a bite, but at the same time resolved, like a gallant rogue, to get clear or die. There was one Armstrong, as was just mentioned, a deserter from the Swallow, of whom they enquired concerning the trim and sailing of that ship; he told them she sailed best upon the wind, and therefore, if they designed to leave her, they should go before it. The danger was imminent, and the time very short, to consult about means to extricate himself; his resolution in this strait was as follows: to pass close to the Swallow with all their sails, and receive her broadside before they returned a shot; if disabled by this, or if they could not depend on sailing, then to run on shore at the point, and every one to shift for himself among the negroes; or failing these, to board, and blow up together, for he saw that the greatest part of his men were drunk, passively courageous, and unfit for service. Roberts, himself, made a gallant figure at the time of the engagement, being dressed in a rich crimson damask waistcoat and breeches, a red feather in his hat, a gold chain round his neck, with a diamond cross hanging to it, a sword in his hand, and two pair of pistols hanging at the end of a silk sling flung over his shoulders, according to the custom of the pirates. He is said to have given his orders with boldness…

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Excerpt #4, from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle

…found it bitterly hard. From every gesture and expression I could see that he was a reserved, self-contained man, with a dash of pride in his nature, more likely to hide his wounds than to expose them. Then suddenly, with a fierce gesture of his closed hand, like one who throws reserve to the winds, he began. “The facts are these, Mr. Holmes,” said he. “I am a married man, and have been so for three years. During that time my wife and I have loved each other as fondly and lived as happily as any two that ever were joined. We have not had a difference, not one, in thought or word or deed. And now, since last Monday, there has suddenly sprung up a barrier between us, and I find that there is something in her life and in her thought of which I know as little as if she were the woman who brushes by me in the street. We are estranged, and I want to know why. “Now there is one thing that I want to impress upon you before I go any further, Mr. Holmes. Effie loves me. Don’t let there be any mistake about that. She loves me with her whole heart and soul, and never more than now. I know it. I feel it. I don’t want to argue about that. A man can tell easily enough when a woman loves him. But there’s this secret between us, and we can never be the same until it is cleared.”…

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Excerpt #5, from An Ideal Husband, by Oscar Wilde

…SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. When? When we were engaged? Do you think she would have married me if she had known that the origin of my fortune is such as it is, the basis of my career such as it is, and that I had done a thing that I suppose most men would call shameful and dishonourable? LORD GORING. [Slowly.] Yes; most men would call it ugly names. There is no doubt of that. SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. [Bitterly.] Men who every day do something of the same kind themselves. Men who, each one of them, have worse secrets in their own lives. LORD GORING. That is the reason they are so pleased to find out other people’s secrets. It distracts public attention from their own. SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. And, after all, whom did I wrong by what I did? No one. LORD GORING. [Looking at him steadily.] Except yourself, Robert. SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. [After a pause.] Of course I had private information about a certain transaction contemplated by the Government of the day, and I acted on it. Private information is practically the source of every large modern fortune. LORD GORING. [Tapping his boot with his cane.] And public scandal invariably the result. SIR ROBERT CHILTERN. [Pacing up and down the room.] Arthur, do you…

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Excerpt #6, from Grimms’ Fairy Tales, by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

…at that moment pulling the kitchen-boy by the hair to give him a box on the ear for something he had done amiss, let him go, and both fell asleep; the butler, who was slyly tasting the ale, fell asleep with the jug at his lips: and thus everything stood still, and slept soundly. A large hedge of thorns soon grew round the palace, and every year it became higher and thicker; till at last the old palace was surrounded and hidden, so that not even the roof or the chimneys could be seen. But there went a report through all the land of the beautiful sleeping Briar Rose (for so the king’s daughter was called): so that, from time to time, several kings’ sons came, and tried to break through the thicket into the palace. This, however, none of them could ever do; for the thorns and bushes laid hold of them, as it were with hands; and there they stuck fast, and died wretchedly. After many, many years there came a king’s son into that land: and an old man told him the story of the thicket of thorns; and how a beautiful palace stood behind it, and how a wonderful princess, called Briar Rose, lay in it asleep, with all her court. He told, too, how he had heard from his grandfather that many, many princes had come, and had tried to break through the thicket, but that they had all stuck fast in it, and died. Then the young prince said, ‘All this shall not frighten me; I will go and see this Briar Rose.’ The old man tried to hinder him, but…

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Excerpt #7, from The School for Scandal, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan

…SIR OLIVER. [Aside.] Mercy upon me! learning that had run in the family like an heir-loom!–[Aloud.] Pray, what has become of the books? CHARLES. You must inquire of the auctioneer, Master Premium, for I don’t believe even Moses can direct you. MOSES. I know nothing of books. SIR OLIVER. So, so, nothing of the family property left, I suppose? CHARLES. Not much, indeed; unless you have a mind to the family pictures. I have got a room full of ancestors above: and if you have a taste for old paintings, egad, you shall have ’em a bargain! SIR OLIVER. Hey! what the devil! sure, you wouldn’t sell your forefathers, would you? CHARLES. Every man of them, to the best bidder. SIR OLIVER. What! your great-uncles and aunts? CHARLES. Ay, and my great-grandfathers and grandmothers too. SIR OLIVER. [Aside.] Now I give him up!–[Aloud.] What the plague, have you no bowels for your own kindred? Odd’s life! do you take me for Shylock in the play, that you would raise money of me on your own flesh and blood? CHARLES. Nay, my little broker, don’t be angry: what need you care, if you have your money’s worth? SIR OLIVER. Well, I’ll be the purchaser: I think I can dispose of the…

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Excerpt #8, from Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens

…ears. “Have you shot anything particular, lately, Giles?” inquired the doctor, when he had concluded. “Nothing particular, sir,” replied Mr. Giles, colouring up to the eyes. “Nor catching any thieves, nor identifying any house-breakers?” said the doctor. “None at all, sir,” replied Mr. Giles, with much gravity. “Well,” said the doctor, “I am sorry to hear it, because you do that sort of thing admirably. Pray, how is Brittles?” “The boy is very well, sir,” said Mr. Giles, recovering his usual tone of patronage; “and sends his respectful duty, sir.” “That’s well,” said the doctor. “Seeing you here, reminds me, Mr. Giles, that on the day before that on which I was called away so hurriedly, I executed, at the request of your good mistress, a small commission in your favour. Just step into this corner a moment, will you?” Mr. Giles walked into the corner with much importance, and some wonder, and was honoured with a short whispering conference with the doctor, on the termination of which, he made a great many bows, and retired with steps of unusual stateliness. The subject matter of this conference was not disclosed in the parlour, but the kitchen was speedily enlightened…

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Excerpt #9, from My Reminiscences, by Rabindranath Tagore

…modern, of which the art-form shows the well-nourished development due to a systematic cultivation of self-control, are not subjects of our study; and so, as it seems to me, we are yet unable to arrive at a correct perception of the true aim and method of literary work. Akshay Babu, who had made the passion in English literature living to us, was himself a votary of the emotional life. The importance of realising truth in the fulness of its perfection seemed less apparent to him than that of feeling it in the heart. He had no intellectual respect for religion, but songs of Shy[=a]m[=a], the dark Mother, would bring tears to his eyes. He felt no call to search for ultimate reality; whatever moved his heart served him for the time as the truth, even obvious coarseness not proving a deterrent. Atheism was the dominant note of the English prose writings then in vogue,–Bentham, Mill and Comte being favourite authors. Theirs was the reasoning in terms of which our youths argued. The age of Mill constitutes a natural epoch in English History. It represents a healthy reaction of the body politic; these destructive forces having been brought in, temporarily, to rid it of accumulated thought-rubbish. In our country we received these in the letter, but never sought to make practical use of them, employing them only as a stimulant to incite ourselves to moral revolt. Atheism was thus for us a mere intoxication….

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Excerpt #10, from Science in Short Chapters, by W. Mattieu Williams

…accompanying drift have led Prof. Ramsay to estimate “the probable amount of submergence during some part of the glacial period at about 2300 feet.”[18] It would be out of place here to reproduce the data upon which geologists have based their rather divergent opinions respecting the actual extent of the submergence of the western coast of North Europe. All agree that a great submergence occurred, but differ only as to its extent, their estimates varying between 1,000 and 3,000 feet. There is one important consideration that must not be overlooked, viz., that—if my view of the submarine origin of the till be correct—the mere submergence of the land at the glacial period does not measure the difference between the depth of the sea at that and the present time, seeing that the deposits from the glaciers must have shallowed it very materially. It is only after contemplating thoroughly the present form of the granitic and metamorphic hills of Scandinavia,—hills that are always angular when subjected only to subaerial weathering,—that one can form an adequate conception of the magnitude of this shallowing deposit. The rounding, shaving, grinding, planing, and universal abrasion everywhere displayed appear to me to justify the conclusion that if the sea were now raised to the level of the terraces, i.e., 600 feet higher than…

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Excerpt #11, from Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt

…the sand to be cleared, thus disclosing the entrances to several rock- cut tombs dating from the Sixth and Twelfth Dynasties, as well as two flights of steps on either side of an inclined plane leading from the Nile bank to the door of one of the tombs. The distance between the two walls is ten feet. The steps are eighteen inches deep, and 250 in number. The steps were for the haulers, the mummies and sarcophagi being dragged up the inclined plane. (See p. 209.)–A.B.E. [33] M. Léfébure has lately produced a superb and elaborate volume on this tomb, with the whole of the texts and the wall decorations faithfully reproduced: Mémoires publiés par les Membres de la Mission du Caire, Vol. II., fasc. I.–A.B.E. [34] We have in this country two very fine specimens of inscribed sarcophagi; namely, that of Seti I., of beautiful alabaster, in the Soane collection (xixth Dyn.), and that of Queen Ankhnesraneferab (xxvith Dyn.) in the British Museum.–A.B.E. CHAPTER IV. PAINTING AND SCULPTURE. The statues and bas-reliefs which decorated the temples and tombs of Ancient Egypt were for the most part painted. Coloured stones, such as granite, basalt, diorite, serpentine, and alabaster, sometimes escaped this law of polychrome; but in the case of sandstone, limestone, or wood it was…

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Excerpt #12, from The Man with Two Left Feet, and Other Stories, by P. G. Wodehouse

…in your life. Presently Izzy gave tongue. The management expects him to be humorous on these occasions, so he did his best. ‘Num-bahs, seven, eleven, and twenty-one will kindly rejoin their sorrowing friends.’ This gave us a little more elbow-room, and the band started again. A few minutes later, Izzy once more: ‘Num-bahs thirteen, sixteen, and seventeen–good-bye.’ Off we went again. ‘Num-bah twelve, we hate to part with you, but–back to your table!’ A plump girl in a red hat, who had been dancing with a kind smile, as if she were doing it to amuse the children, left the floor. ‘Num-bahs six, fifteen, and twenty, thumbs down!’ And pretty soon the only couples left were Charlie and me, Mrs Charlie and the fellow I’d introduced her to, and a bald-headed man and a girl in a white hat. He was one of your stick-at-it performers. He had been dancing all the evening. I had noticed him from the balcony. He looked like a hard-boiled egg from up there. He was a trier all right, that fellow, and had things been otherwise, so to speak, I’d have been glad to see him win. But it was not to be. Ah, no!…

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