Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:38

Excerpt #1, from Legends of the City of Mexico, by Thomas A. Janvier

…and so beautifully wrought that it evidently had been forged by devils, and which was farther charged with devilishness because it had been worn by an Infidel; and then, still more unfortunately, he neglected to have the armor purified by causing the devils to be exorcised out of it by a Christian priest. Therefore, of course, the devils remained in the armor–ready to make trouble whenever they got the chance. How Don Gil de Marcadante came to be the owner of that accursed devil-possessed armor, Señor, I never have heard mentioned. Perhaps he bought it because it happened to fit him; and, certainly–he being a most unusually sinful young gentleman–the curse that was upon it and the devils which were a part of it fitted him to a hair. This Don Gil was a student of law in Toledo; but his studies were the very last things to which he turned his attention, and the life that he led was the shame of his respectable brother and his excellent mother’s despair. Habitually, he broke every law of the Decalogue, and so brazenly that all the city rang with the stories of his evil doings and his crimes. Moreover, he was of a blusterous nature and a born brawler: ready at the slightest contradiction to burst forth with such a torrent of blasphemies and imprecations that his mouth seemed to be a den of snakes and toads and scorpions; and ever quick to snatch his…

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Excerpt #2, from Old Mines of Southern California, by Harold W. Fairbanks and William H. Storms

…has suffered great decomposition. Dark-green basic dikes, which seem to be greatly altered diabase, occur in the district, but have no connection with any of the ore deposits as far as observed. Numerous dikes, large and small, of a red felsitic rock, occur throughout the district, and seem to bear an important relation to some of the ore deposits. All of the rock is much decomposed, and its identification is not an easy matter. It appears under the microscope to be a finely porphyritic rock, having a somewhat fluidal structure, as shown in the arrangement of the numerous small, lath-like crystals of feldspar. Small blebs of quartz occur quite abundantly. In a general way the rock resembles some rhyolites. On the northern flank of the range immense masses of red and brown tufa occur, besides great flows of black basaltic lava. These rocks form a terrace-like ridge that extends for several miles along the base of the mountains. Two large cinder cones, one on the northeast end of the range, the other about 4 miles distant in the desert valley to the northward, form prominent landmarks. The basalt is coarse to fine grained, usually black or dark gray, and is often scoriaceous. It contains plagioclase, augite, and olivine, and abundant magnetite in a micro-crystalline or granular base. Near the…

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Excerpt #3, from Postal Riders and Raiders, by W. H. Gantz

…bankers? With them, in one year, the public has deposited $352,590,814 and their transactions in money orders, travelers’ checks, letters of credit and bills of exchange rival those of the most powerful banks. This business, unlike any other form of banking is under no governmental jurisdiction and goes untaxed. It is made possible only by using the machinery of the regular banks, although to these the express companies pay no revenue. In the money-order line, express companies compete with the postoffice and do about one-third as much business as the government. The American Express alone has handled nearly 17,000,000 money orders in one year. That the public has confidence in the safety of the express companies as banks admits of no doubt, and it has been credibly reported that in the panic of 1907 money was withdrawn from banks, which the people did not trust, and invested in express money orders. Transportation in a multitude of forms and branch banking do not comprise the sum total of express activities. The surplus funds of these huge institutions have grown large enough to require constant investment, and the express companies form a close second to the savings banks and insurance companies as the most dependable, regular and important class of investors in railroad…

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Excerpt #4, from The Swedish Fairy Book, by Klara Stroebe, George Hood, and Frederick Herman Martens

…one of the greatest nobles to seat himself in the bridal chair in the prince’s place, which he did. But the very moment the priest began to pray, the two wings of the church portal quickly flew open, and a tall, strong, handsome man with flashing eyes, royally clad, came in, stepped up to the bridal chair, thrust his proxy out so hastily that he nearly fell, and cried: “This is my place! Now, priest, speak the blessing!” While the blessing was spoken the prince became quiet again, and then greeted his parents and the whole court with joy, and before all embraced his wife, who now for the first time ventured to take a good look at him. Thenceforward the prince was like any other human being, and in the end he inherited his father’s kingdom, and became a great and world-renowned ruler, beloved by his subjects, and adored by his wife. They lived long and happily, and their descendants are still the rulers of the land over which he reigned. NOTE “First Born, First Wed” is a purely Swedish, and decidedly characteristic treatment of a similar motive of redemption. (From the mss. collection of Hyltén-Cavallius and Stephens, communicated by Dr. v. Sydow-Lund). XIII THE LAME DOG…

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Excerpt #5, from The Chemistry of Plant Life, by Roscoe Wilfred Thatcher

…one molecule of glucose united to two molecules of rhamnose (methyl pentose, C_{6}H_{12}O_{5}). It is of interest only in connection with the properties of the glucoside in which it is present (see page 84). Three trisaccharides which are non-reducing sugars are found in plants; namely, raffinose, gentianose, and melizitose. =Raffinose= occurs normally in cotton seeds, in barley grains, and in manna; also, in small quantities in the beet root, associated with sucrose. It is more soluble in water than is sucrose and hence remains in solution in the molasses from beet-sugar manufacture, which constitutes the commercial source for this sugar. Raffinose crystallizes out of concentrated solutions, with five molecules of water of crystallization, in clusters of glistening prisms. It is strongly dextrorotatory, the anhydrous sugar having a specific rotatory power of +185°, and the crystalline form, C_{18}H_{32}O_{16}, showing a specific rotation of +104.5°. It does not reduce Fehling’s solution, nor form an osazone, and in its other properties it closely resembles sucrose. The hydrolysis of raffinose presents several interesting possibilities. If its structure is represented as follows: C_{6}H_{11}O_{5}-C_{6}H_{10}O_{4}-C_{6}H_{11}O_{5} Fructose Glucose Galactose ______ _____/ _______ ______/…

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Excerpt #6, from The Republic of Plato, by Plato

…and the just? Is not that true, Thrasymachus? Yes. And O my friend, I said, surely the gods are just? Granted that they are. 352B But if so, the unjust will be the enemy of the gods, and the just will be their friend? Feast away in triumph, and take your fill of the argument; I will not oppose you, lest I should displease the company. [Sidenote: Recapitulation.] Well then, proceed with your answers, and let me have the remainder of my repast. For we have already shown that the just are clearly wiser and better and abler than the unjust, and that the unjust are incapable of common action; 352C nay more, that to speak as we did of men who are evil acting at any time vigorously together, is not strictly true, for if they had been perfectly evil, they would have laid hands upon one another; but it is evident that there must have been some remnant of justice in them, which enabled them to combine; if there had not been they would have injured one another as well as their victims; they were but half-villains in their enterprises; for had they been whole villains, and utterly unjust, they would have been utterly incapable of action. 352D That, as I believe, is the truth of the matter, and not what you said at first. But…

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Excerpt #7, from A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar, by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer

…SEA-WATER?_ A. The salt of the sea retards evaporation; and (as the heat of the body is drawn off very gradually) the sensation of cold is prevented. Q. Why does SPRINKLING a HOT ROOM with water COOL IT? A. The heat of the room causes a rapid evaporation of the sprinkled water; and as the water evaporates, it absorbs heat from the room, and cools it. Q. Why does WATERING the STREETS and roads COOL THEM? A. The hot streets and roads part with their heat to promote the evaporation of the water sprinkled on them. Q. Why does a SHOWER of RAIN seem to COOL the AIR in summer-time? A. The earth (being wet with the rain) parts with its heat to promote evaporation; and as the earth is cooled, it cools the air also. Q. Why is LINEN DRIED by being exposed to the WIND? A. The air (blowing over the linen) promotes evaporation, by removing the vapour from the surface of the wet linen, as soon as it is formed. Q. Why is LINEN DRIED sooner in the open AIR, than in a confined room? A. Because the particles of vapour are more rapidly removed from the surface of the linen by evaporation. Q. Why are WET SUMMERS generally SUCCEEDED by COLD WINTERS?…

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Excerpt #8, from Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt

…open gaps in the circuit. It was upon these weak points that besiegers and besieged alike concentrated their efforts. The fortress of Abydos had two gates, the main one being situate at the east end of the north front (fig. 29). A narrow cutting (A), closed by a massive wooden door, marked the place in the covering wall. Behind it was a small place d’armes (B), cut partly in the thickness of the wall, and leading to a second gate (C) as narrow as the first. When, notwithstanding the showers of missiles poured upon them from the top of the walls, not only in front, but also from both sides, the attacking party had succeeded in carrying this second door, they were not yet in the heart of the place. They would still have to traverse an oblong court (D), closely hemmed in between the outer walls and the cross walls, which last stood at right angles to the first. Finally, they must force a last postern (E), which was purposely placed in the most awkward corner. The leading principle in the construction of fortress-gates was always the same, but the details varied according to the taste of the engineer. At the south-east gate of the fort of Abydos (fig. 30) the place d’armes between the two walls is abolished, and the court is constructed entirely in the thickness of the main wall; while at Kom el Ahmar, opposite El Kab (fig. 31), the block of brickwork in the midst of which the gate is cut projects boldly in front. The posterns opening at various points facilitated the movements of the garrison, and enabled them to multiply…

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Excerpt #9, from A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer, by Thomas Wilhelm

…stores of all kinds. =Munkacs.= A market-town of East Hungary, 80 miles northeast from Debreczin. It was taken by the Imperialists in 1687, after a siege of three years. =Munsees=, or =Minsees=. A tribe of Indians of Algonkin stock, who were closely allied to the Delawares. Many of them became converts to Christianity. A few of them now reside on the reservation of the Stockbridge Indians in Wisconsin, and about 60 are settled in Kansas. =Münster.= A city of Germany, on the small river Aa, 77 miles northeast from Cologne. It is the capital of a government of the same name in Prussian Westphalia. It was seized by the French in 1806; part of the duchy of Berg, 1809; annexed to France, 1810; ceded to Prussia, 1815. It was the headquarters of the Anabaptists under John Leyden, who defended it against the bishop of Münster, 1534-35. Here was signed the treaty of Westphalia or Münster, October 24, 1648. =Münsterthal.= Two valleys of Switzerland, one in the canton Grisons, the other in Berne, where, in 1444, the battle of St. Jacob was fought between the French and Swiss, when the latter were nearly annihilated. =Muotta Valley.= A secluded valley of Switzerland, canton of Schwytz, traversed by the river Muotta, an affluent of Lake Lucerne. Here a sanguinary struggle took place in 1799, between the French under…

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Excerpt #10, from Argonaut stories, by Jerome Hart

…trimmed beard that fringed the cheeks, looked as natural as they could have done in the heyday of life. But just as inexplicable was the dress. It was composed of some light material such as is worn in hot climates, and had more in common with the ancient Greek chlamys, or the Arab burnous, than with any other type of dress that I recall. Such colors as it had were tasteful and resplendent, and had lost none of their original freshness. The feet were shod with sandals, and a gemmed ring still sparkled upon one of the fingers of the right hand. It was the face and figure of a handsome man of thirty, or thereabouts, and the whole posture was so indicative of repose as to indicate that, whoever he might be, he had met his end calmly and without pain. I turned mechanically toward Burnham and saw that he was watching my surprise and smiling. “Well, what do you think of my package,” he asked; “was it worth the trouble of bringing it here from the Arctic circle?” “I must congratulate you on your specimen,” I returned; “it will certainly be a great acquisition to our scientific men and antiquaries. But how are you going to preserve it? Won’t you find it rather a difficult matter to keep the ice in a state of congelation–and expensive, too, I should think?”…

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Excerpt #11, from Dracula, by Bram Stoker

…animal, perhaps a rat; but, for his own part, he was inclined to think that it was one of the bats which are so numerous on the northern heights of London. “Out of so many harmless ones,” he said, “there may be some wild specimen from the South of a more malignant species. Some sailor may have brought one home, and it managed to escape; or even from the Zoölogical Gardens a young one may have got loose, or one be bred there from a vampire. These things do occur, you know. Only ten days ago a wolf got out, and was, I believe, traced up in this direction. For a week after, the children were playing nothing but Red Riding Hood on the Heath and in every alley in the place until this ‘bloofer lady’ scare came along, since when it has been quite a gala-time with them. Even this poor little mite, when he woke up to-day, asked the nurse if he might go away. When she asked him why he wanted to go, he said he wanted to play with the ‘bloofer lady.’” “I hope,” said Van Helsing, “that when you are sending the child home you will caution its parents to keep strict watch over it. These fancies to stray are most dangerous; and if the child were to remain out another night, it would probably be fatal. But in any case I suppose you will not let it away for some days?” “Certainly not, not for a week at least; longer if the wound is not healed.”…

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Excerpt #12, from Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period, by J. Franklin Jameson

…KIQUOTAN[2] Aprill 28th 1700 between 3 and 4 a Clock in the afternoon. [Footnote 2: Hampton.] Capt. John Aldred, Commander of his Maj’tes Ship Essex Prize,[3] hath just now given me an Account that there are 3 or 4 Ships or vessels in Lynhaven-bay,[4] who are supposed to be pyrates. I doe therefore in his Maj’tes Name command you that upon Sight hereof you give Notice to the Commanders of the Ships and vessels in York River that they take care of their Ships and vessels, and that you do Imediately Order the Militia in your parts to be ready, and you must fortwith dispatch an Express to the Colo. and Chief Officers of the Militia of Gloster, whom I also hereby Command in his Maj’tes Name to have their Militia ready, and they are forthwith to dispatch an Express to the Colo. or chief officers of Middlesex, whom I doe also in his Maj’tes Name Command to have their Militia ready, and they are to give Notice to the Commanders of ships and vessells in Rappahannock, that they may take care of their ships and vessels, and the officers of Middlesex are imediatly to send an Express to the Colo. and Chief officers of Lancaster, whom I do also in his Maj’tes Name command to have their Militia ready, and if any Ship or vessel be…

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