Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:25:52

Excerpt #1, from Beowulf: An Anglo

…Wickedly slaughtered, as he more of them had done Had far-seeing God and the mood of the hero The fate not averted: the Father then governed All of the earth-dwellers, as He ever is doing; 10 Hence insight for all men is everywhere fittest, Forethought of spirit! much he shall suffer Of lief and of loathsome who long in this present Useth the world in this woful existence. There was music and merriment mingling together {Hrothgar’s scop recalls events in the reign of his lord’s father.} 15 Touching Healfdene’s leader; the joy-wood was fingered, Measures recited, when the singer of Hrothgar On mead-bench should mention the merry hall-joyance Of the kinsmen of Finn, when onset surprised them: {Hnæf, the Danish general, is treacherously attacked while staying at Finn’s castle.} "The Half-Danish hero, Hnæf of the Scyldings, 20 On the field of the Frisians was fated to perish. Sure Hildeburg needed not mention approving The faith of the Jutemen: though blameless entirely, {Queen Hildeburg is not only wife of Finn, but a kinswoman of the murdered…

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Excerpt #2, from Comic History of the United States, by Bill Nye

…Thus opened the Revolutionary War,–a contest which but for the earnestness and irritability of the Americans would have been extremely brief. It showed the relative difference between the fighting qualities of soldiers who fight for two pounds ten shillings per month and those who fight because they have lost their temper. The regulars destroyed the stores, but on the way home they found every rock-pile hid an old-fashioned gun and minute-man. This shows that there must have been an enormous number of minute-men then. All the English who got back to Boston were those who went out to reinforce the original command. The news went over the country like wildfire. These are the words of the historian. Really, that is a poor comparison, for wildfire doesn’t jump rivers and bays, or get up and eat breakfast by candle-light in order to be on the road and spread the news. General Putnam left a pair of tired steers standing in the furrow, and rode one hundred miles without feed or water to Boston. Twenty thousand men were soon at work building intrenchments around Boston, so that the English troops could not get out to the suburbs where many of them resided. [Illustration: GENERAL PUTNAM LEAVING A PAIR OF TIRED STEERS.] I will now speak of the battle of Bunker Hill….

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Excerpt #3, from A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1, by Surendranath Dasgupta

…appear as a ghost or a bird, so these elements though not themselves blue make themselves appear as blue (nîlam upâdâ rûpam), not yellow, red, or white make themselves appear as yellow, red or white (odâtam upâdârûpam), so on account of their similarity to the appearances created by the magician they are called mahâbhûta [Footnote ref 4]." In the Sa@myutta Nikâya we find that the Buddha says, “O Bhikkhus it is called rûpam because it manifests (rûpyati); how ___________________________________________________________________ [Footnote 1: Sa@myutta Nikâya, III. 86, etc.] [Footnote 2: Abhidhammatthasangaha, J.P.T.S. 1884, p. 27 ff.] [Footnote 3: _Dhammasa@nga@ni_, pp. 124-179.] [Footnote 4: Atthasâlinî, p. 299.] 95 does it manifest? It manifests as cold, and as heat, as hunger and as thirst, it manifests as the touch of gnats, mosquitos, wind, the sun and the snake; it manifests, therefore it is called rûpa [Footnote ref 1].” If we take the somewhat conflicting passages referred to above for our consideration and try to combine them so as to understand what is meant by rûpa, I think we find that that which manifested…

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Excerpt #4, from The Genetic Effects of Radiation, by Isaac Asimov and Theodosius Dobzhansky

…If radiation kills the mechanism of division in only some of these cells, it is possible that those that remain reasonably intact can divide and eventually replace or do the work of those that can no longer divide. In that case, the symptoms of radiation sickness are relatively mild in the first place and eventually disappear. Past a certain critical point, when too many cells are made incapable of division, this is no longer possible. The symptoms, which show up in the growing tissues particularly (as in the loss of hair, the misshaping or loss of fingernails, the reddening and hemorrhaging of skin, the ulceration of the mouth, and the lowering of the blood cell count), grow steadily more severe and death follows. Radiation and Mutation Where radiation is insufficient to render a cell incapable of division, it may still induce mutations, and it is in this fashion that skin cancer, leukemia, and other disorders may be brought about.[6] [Illustration: Studies at the California Institute of Technology furnish information on the nature of radiation effects on genes. The experiments produced fruit flies with three or four wings and double or partially doubled thoraxes by causing gene mutation through X-irradiation and chromosome rearrangements. A is a normal male Drosophila; _B is a four-winged male with a double thorax; and C and D…

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Excerpt #5, from The Art of War, by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi

…material for raising fire should always be kept in readiness. 3. There is a proper season for making attacks with fire, and special days for starting a conflagration. 4. The proper season is when the weather is very dry; the special days are those when the moon is in the constellations of the Sieve, the Wall, the Wing or the Cross-bar; for these four are all days of rising wind. 5. In attacking with fire, one should be prepared to meet five possible developments: 6. (1) When fire breaks out inside the enemy’s camp, respond at once with an attack from without. 7. (2) If there is an outbreak of fire, but the enemy’s soldiers remain quiet, bide your time and do not attack. 8. (3) When the force of the flames has reached its height, follow it up with an attack, if that is practicable; if not, stay where you are. 9. (4) If it is possible to make an assault with fire from without, do not wait for it to break out within, but deliver your attack at a favourable moment. 10. (5) When you start a fire, be to windward of it. Do not attack from the leeward. 11. A wind that rises in the daytime lasts long, but a night breeze…

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Excerpt #6, from Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt

…light blue semi-opaque glass (fig. 225); the inscription in the name of Thothmes III., the ovals on the neck, and the palm-fronds on the body of the vase being in yellow. Here again is a lenticular phial, three and a quarter inches in height (fig. 226), the ground colour of a deep ocean blue, admirably pure and intense, upon which a fern-leaf pattern in yellow stands out both boldly and delicately. A yellow thread runs round the rim, and two little handles of light green are attached to the neck. A miniature amphora of the same height (fig. 227) is of a dark, semi-transparent olive green. A zone of blue and yellow zigzags, bounded above and below by yellow bands, encircles the body of the vase at the part of its largest circumference. The handles are pale green, and the thread round the lip is pale blue. Princess Nesikhonsû had beside her, in the vault at Deir el Baharî, some glass goblets of similar work. Seven were in whole colours, light green and blue; four were of black glass spotted with white; one only was decorated with many-coloured fronds arranged in two rows (fig. 228). The national glass works were therefore in full operation during the time of the great Theban dynasties. Huge piles of scoriae mixed with slag yet mark the spot where their furnaces were stationed at Tell el Amarna, the Ramesseum, at El Kab, and at the Tell of Eshmûneyn. [Illustration: Fig. 229.–Hippopotamus in blue glaze.] [Illustration: Fig. 230.–Glazed ware from Thebes.]…

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Excerpt #7, from A Lad of Grit: A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times

…That night I got worse, and for three weeks I lay betwixt life and death with an ague brought about by the cold and exposure. Then one morning I awoke to find my Uncle George sitting by my bedside. The kindly little man had heard of my being ill at Wareham, and had immediately travelled posthaste to my side. From that day my recovery became rapid, and in less than a fortnight I could sit up. One afternoon, as the late autumnal sun was sinking in the west, I heard the tramping of feet and the clanking of fetters. My uncle helped me to the window, and on looking out I saw the whole gang of smugglers, save two who had preferred death to capture, being led through the town on the way to Dorchester Jail. Fortunately I was spared the ordeal of attending the trial, but I heard that the gallows or transportation to the West Indies accounted for the whole of the rascally crew, against whom the barbaric crime of wrecking, as well as smuggling, was proved right up to the hilt. It was late in December, in clear, frosty weather, that we started on our homeward journey, proceeding by easy stages through Wimborne, Ringwood, and the New Forest to Southampton, and on the last day of December of the year 1663 I arrived at Portsmouth again, after an absence of over three years….

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Excerpt #8, from Something New, by P. G. Wodehouse

…nothing the English upper servant so abhors as vulgarity. That was what the steward’s room was trying to make up its mind about. Then Miss Willoughby threw her shapely head back and the squeal of her laughter smote the ceiling. And at that the company made its decision. Everybody laughed. Everybody urged Ashe to give an encore. Everybody was his friend and admirer—everybody but Beach, the butler. Beach, the butler, was shocked to his very core. His heavy-lidded eyes rested on Ashe with disapproval. It seemed to Beach, the butler, that this young man Marson had got above himself. * * * Ashe found Joan at his side. Dinner was over and the diners were making for the housekeeper’s room. “Thank you, Mr. Marson. That was very good of you and very clever.” Her eyes twinkled. “But what a terrible chance you took! You have made yourself a popular success, but you might just as easily have become a social outcast. As it is, I am afraid Mr. Beach did not approve.” “I’m afraid he didn’t. In a minute or so I’m going to fawn on him and make all well.” Joan lowered her voice….

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Excerpt #9, from Emma, by Jane Austen

…abstained. She was quite determined not to utter a word that should hurt Jane Fairfax’s feelings; and they followed the other ladies out of the room, arm in arm, with an appearance of good-will highly becoming to the beauty and grace of each. CHAPTER XVII When the ladies returned to the drawing-room after dinner, Emma found it hardly possible to prevent their making two distinct parties;—with so much perseverance in judging and behaving ill did Mrs. Elton engross Jane Fairfax and slight herself. She and Mrs. Weston were obliged to be almost always either talking together or silent together. Mrs. Elton left them no choice. If Jane repressed her for a little time, she soon began again; and though much that passed between them was in a half-whisper, especially on Mrs. Elton’s side, there was no avoiding a knowledge of their principal subjects: The post-office—catching cold—fetching letters—and friendship, were long under discussion; and to them succeeded one, which must be at least equally unpleasant to Jane—inquiries whether she had yet heard of any situation likely to suit her, and professions of Mrs. Elton’s meditated activity. “Here is April come!” said she, “I get quite anxious about you. June will soon be here.” “But I have never fixed on June or any other month—merely looked…

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Excerpt #10, from Clairvoyance and Occult Powers, by William Walker Atkinson

…chapter–there will be found a close agreement in principle and practice. And, now let us pass on to a consideration of the various forms and phases of the clairvoyant phenomena itself. The subject is fascinating, and I am sure that you will enjoy this little excursion into the strange realm of thought regarding the astral phenomena of clairvoyance. But, be sure to master each lesson before proceeding to the rest, as otherwise you will have to turn back the leaves of the course in order to pick up some point of teaching that you have neglected. LESSON IX. SIMPLE CLAIRVOYANCE. In a previous chapter we have seen that there are three well-defined classes of clairvoyance, namely, (1) Simple clairvoyance; (2) Clairvoyance in space; and (3) Clairvoyance in Time. I shall now consider these in sequence, beginning with the first, Simple Clairvoyance. In simple clairvoyance the clairvoyant person merely senses the auric emanations of other persons, such as the auric vibrations, colors, etc., currents of thought vibrations, etc., but does not see events or scenes removed in space or time from the observer. There are other phenomena peculiar to this class of clairvoyance which I shall note as we progress with this chapter. An authority on the subject of astral phenomena has written interestingly,…

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Excerpt #11, from Principles of Geology, by Sir Charles Lyell

…TRANSMUTATION OF SPECIES–Continued. Recapitulation of the arguments in favor of the theory of transmutation of species–Their insufficiency–Causes of difficulty in discriminating species–Some varieties possibly more distinct than certain individuals of distinct species–Variability in a species consistent with a belief that the limits of deviation are fixed–No facts of transmutation authenticated–Varieties of the Dog–the Dog and Wolf distinct species–Mummies of various animals from Egypt identical in character with living individuals–Seeds and plants from the Egyptian tombs–Modifications produced in plants by agriculture and gardening. The theory of the transmutation of species, considered in the last chapter, has met with some degree of favor from many naturalists, from their desire to dispense, as far as possible, with the repeated intervention of a First Cause, as often as geological monuments attest the successive appearance of new races of animals and plants, and the extinction of those pre-existing. But, independently of a predisposition to account, if possible, for a series of changes in the organic world by the regular action of secondary causes, we have seen that in truth many perplexing difficulties present themselves to one who attempts to establish the nature and reality of the specific character. And if once…

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Excerpt #12, from The Radio Amateur’s Hand Book, by A. Frederick Collins

…half-a-dozen of these tubes are connected in the receiving circuit, or in cascade, as it is called, when the sounds are amplified, that is magnified, many hundreds of times. The telephone receiver of a receiving set is equally as important as the detector. A single receiver can be used but a pair of receivers connected with a head-band gives far better results. Then again the higher the resistance of the receivers the more sensitive they often are and those wound to as high a resistance as 3,200 ohms are made for use with the best sets. To make the incoming signals, conversation or music, audible to a room full of people instead of to just yourself you must use what is called a loud speaker. In its simplest form this consists of a metal cone like a megaphone to which is fitted a telephone receiver. About Transmitting Stations–Getting Your License.–If you are going to install a wireless sending apparatus, either telegraphic or telephonic, you will have to secure a government license for which no fee or charge of any kind is made. There are three classes of licenses issued to amateurs who want to operate transmitting stations and these are: (1) the restricted amateur license, (2) the general amateur license, and (3) the special amateur license. If you are going to set up a transmitter within five nautical miles of…

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