Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

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Excerpt #1, from The Observations of Professor Maturin, by Clyde Furst

…with a majority of the other members, opposed the craftsman and the engineer, in ascribing a certain monotony and shallowness to Japanese life, in spite of its old aestheticism and its new efficiency. Both of the diplomats endorsed the Persian specialist’s statement that “the hope of the East is in Western inoculation; it will never regenerate itself.” “Nor be regenerated,” growled the colonel. “From my point of view,” replied the artist, “it has no need to. Nature is the absolute artist, and nowhere else do people live so close to her. Rare natural beauty, a constant sun, and a mellow atmosphere give existence there such an intensity and richness that mere living becomes an art–‘pure pomegranate, not banana,’ as they say in Egypt.” “It takes the eyes of love to see angels,” concluded the archaeologist. “Natural savages may be noble, but effete races are not, and such most of the Eastern peoples seem to me. However, I may be wrong, or at least narrow; toleration is the great lesson of travel.” After a number of such discussions, which were listened to by all, the company returned by general consent to more specific topics–plans, principally, for future journeys. These had but a melancholy interest for me, who had not the remotest hope of realizing any of them, until the conversation became once more general in outlining an ideal rapid journey around the world. This whirled me past Honolulu palm trees and…

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Excerpt #2, from Vistas in Sicily, by Arthur Stanley Riggs

…central southern shore–the rugged, cloud-piercing backbone of the island. Greek temples, great golden honeycombs of myth and history, tower up from hilltop and swale of emerald spangled with the gold of spurge and buttercup, splashed with the impish fiery tongues of countless poppies; bright groves of orange, lemon, citron, almond and carob trees in both fruit and flower scent the air with almost overpowering sweetness; broad brown fields bear acres of the dull green prickly pears; an occasional huge plot of ground newly plowed, with moist red furrows, waits open-lipped, to receive seed or shoot; and everywhere, acre upon acre, extend the vineyards, low-trellised and green, till from a height the country that the gods loved looks like a huge crazy quilt, folded and rumpled and vivid, dropped from the finisher’s hand and left lying where it fell. Picturesque towns on the very tips of inaccessible crags, walled about and defended by Nature, give perfect pictures of isolation. Other towns, white cities springing up from the golden sands of the African sea, coquette with the emerald waves that lap hungrily at their very doors. And the dashing tunny-fisheries off-shore–the brilliant sunshine glinting on the flapping white sails–the water boiling about the frantic monsters as they plunge and struggle to escape the stabbing gaffs of their captors; the water red and green and black at last, and…

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Excerpt #3, from The Jest Book, by Mark Lemon

…particular case, a King’s Counsel observed, in a tone loud enough to reach the bench, “Good heavens! every judgment of this court is a mere toss-up.” “But heads seldom win,” observed a learned barrister, sitting behind him. DCCXCIII.–RELATIONS OF MANKIND. BY what curious links, and fantastical relations, are mankind connected together! At the distance of half the globe, a Hindoo gains his support by groping at the bottom of the sea for the morbid concretion of a shell-fish, to decorate the throat of a London alderman’s wife.–S.S. DCCXCIV.–VERY TRUE. SERJEANT MAYNARD, a famous lawyer in the days of the Stuarts, called law an “ars bablativa.” DCCXCV.–EPIGRAM. (Accounting for the apostacy of ministers.) THE Whigs, because they rat and change To Toryism, all must spurn; Yet in the fact there’s nothing strange, That Wigs should twist, or curl, or turn. DCCXCVI.–DRINKING ALONE. THE author of the “Parson’s Daughter,” when surprised one evening in his arm-chair, two or three hours after dinner, is reported to have…

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Excerpt #4, from Tales of the Air Mail Pilots, by Burt M. McConnell

…easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away–you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. START: FULL LICENSE THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license. Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all…

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Excerpt #5, from Astounding Stories, May, 1931, by Various

…gently lowered to the ground again. While one tentacle still held him securely, another tore away his hood and tunic. Almost immediately the hood was replaced by one of the protective white globe devices. Dixon blinked for a moment in half-blinded bewilderment as he got his first glimpse of the Earth-camp of the Centaurians. * * * * * The place, located on the smooth rock floor of a large natural basin, seemed a veritable cauldron of seething colors which rippled and blended in a dazzling maze of unearthly splendor. But Dixon forgot everything else in that weird camp as his startled gaze fell upon the creature standing directly in front of him. He knew instinctively that the thing must be one of the Alpha Centaurians, for in its alien grotesqueness the figure was utterly dissimilar to anything ever seen upon Earth before. Life upon the shattered planet of that far distant sun had apparently sprung from sources both crustacean and reptilian. The Centaurian stood barely five feet in height. Its bulky, box-like body was completely covered with a chitinous armor that gleamed pale yellowish green. Two short powerful legs, scaled like those of a lizard, ended in feet…

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Excerpt #6, from The Pirates’ Who’s Who, by Philip Gosse

…managed to get their money and jewellery away in safety. Gow’s crew marched back to their ship with a bagpiper playing at their head. They now sailed to Calfsound, seized three girls and took them aboard. Then to the Island of Eda to plunder the house of Mr. Fea, an old schoolmate of Gow’s. Arriving there on February 13th, by bad management they ran their vessel on the rocks. The bo’son and five men went ashore and met Mr. Fea, who entertained them at the local public-house. By a simple stratagem, Mr. Fea seized first the bo’son and afterwards the five men. Soon after this, Fea trapped Gow and all the rest of his crew of twenty-eight men. Help was sent for, and eventually the Greyhound frigate arrived and took Gow and his crew to London, arriving off Woolwich on March 26th, 1725. The prisoners were taken to the Marshalsea Prison in Southwark, and there found their old companion, Lieutenant Williams. Four men turned King’s evidence–viz., George Dobson, Job Phinnies, Tim Murphy, and William Booth. The trial at Newgate began on May 8th, when Gow was sullen and reserved and refused to plead. He was ordered to be pressed to death, which was the only form of torture still allowed by the law. At the last moment Gow yielded, and pleaded “not guilty.” Gow was found guilty, and hanged on June 11th, 1725, but "as he was turned off, he fell down from the Gibbit, the rope breaking by the weight of some that pulled his leg. Although…

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Excerpt #7, from Dave Dashaway, Air Champion; Or, Wizard Work in the Clouds, by Roy Rockwood

…which his hopes and interest were fixed so intensely, was in peril. He knew it was scorched, from the faint smell of melting varnish. All he thought of was getting the Ariel outside the spreading circle of fire. He could choose no lanes between the numerous stacks, for the smoke now obscured everything. He had to trust to luck. Now he was running the machine along. “The mischief!” uttered Hiram abruptly, and went spinning back half a dozen feet. He had driven the biplane squarely into an unseen stack. The rebound shook him loose. He stumbled and fell. Then his head met some hard solid substance and he closed his eyes with a groan—senseless. It was the echo of the two shots that first aroused Dave Dashaway, who had stood looking after Hiram until he disappeared, and then awaited his return. The farmer had gone back to the porch, but now he ran down into the yard again with the words: “Hello! that was my gun—I’d know its sound anywhere, I think.” “Then something is wrong,” instantly decided Dave, quite stirred up. “I see nothing of the airship—” “No,” shouted the farmer, “but there’s a fire!” The moment he got beyond the barn, Dave also saw the smoke and flames. “My haystacks!” cried the farmer. “The Ariel!” murmured Dave. “And there is the biplane Hiram saw. Mr….

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Excerpt #8, from The Subterranean World, by G. Hartwig

…caused by disruption. Thus the thermal springs of Matlock and Bath accompany great natural fissures in the mountain limestone, and the hot springs of Wiesbaden and Ems, of Carlsbad and Toeplitz, all lie contiguous to remarkable dislocations, or to great lines of elevation, or to the neighbourhood of a volcanic focus. One of the most remarkable phenomena of thermal springs is the constant invariableness of their temperature and their mineral impregnation. During the last fifty or sixty years, ever since accurate thermometrical observations and chemical analyses have been made, the most celebrated mineral sources of Germany have been found to contain the same proportion of mineral substances. This is truly astonishing when we consider that the latter are merely dissolved by the waters while passing through the bowels of the earth, and that a considerable number of them are frequently found together in the same source. Another remarkable fact is, that, even in countries exposed to violent and frequent earthquakes, so many subterranean watercourses have remained unaltered for 2,000 years at least. The sources of Greece still flow apparently as in the times of Hellenic antiquity. The spring of Erasinos, two leagues south of Argos, on the declivity of the Chaonian mountains, is mentioned by Herodotus. At Delphi the Cassotis (now Wells of Saint Nicholas) still flow under the ruins of the temple of Apollo,…

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Excerpt #9, from Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata, by H. G. Wells

…indication of a sixth. With considerable modifications of form, the three leading constituents of the rabbit’s pelvic girdle occur in relatively identical positions. The greatly elongated ilium (il.) articulates with the single (compare Rabbit) sacral vertebra (s.v. in Figure 5). The ischium (is.) is relatively smaller than in the rabbit, and the pubis (pu.) is a ventral wedge of unossified cartilage. The shape of the pelvic girdle of the frog is a wide departure from that found among related forms. In connection with the leaping habit, the ilia are greatly elongated, and the pubes and ischia much reduced. Generally throughout the air-frequenting vertebrata, we find the same arrangement of these three bones, usually in the form of an inverted. Y– the ilium above, the ischium and pubis below, and the acetabulum at the junction of the three. Section 16. The uro-genital organs of the frog, and especially those of the male, correspond with embryonic stages of the rabbit. In this sex the testes (T., Sheet 13) lie in the body cavity, and are white bodies usually dappled with black pigment. Vasa efferentia (v.e.) run to the internal border of the anterior part of the kidney, which answers, therefore, to the rabbit’s epididymis. The hinder part of the kidney is the predominant renal organ. There is a common uro-genital duct, into which a seminal vesicle, which is especially large in early spring,…

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Excerpt #10, from Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka

…all the doors were locked? Despite all the difficulty he was in, he could not suppress a smile at this thought. After a while he had already moved so far across that it would have been hard for him to keep his balance if he rocked too hard. The time was now ten past seven and he would have to make a final decision very soon. Then there was a ring at the door of the flat. “That’ll be someone from work”, he said to himself, and froze very still, although his little legs only became all the more lively as they danced around. For a moment everything remained quiet. “They’re not opening the door”, Gregor said to himself, caught in some nonsensical hope. But then of course, the maid’s firm steps went to the door as ever and opened it. Gregor only needed to hear the visitor’s first words of greeting and he knew who it was—the chief clerk himself. Why did Gregor have to be the only one condemned to work for a company where they immediately became highly suspicious at the slightest shortcoming? Were all employees, every one of them, louts, was there not one of them who was faithful and devoted who would go so mad with pangs of conscience that he couldn’t get out of bed if he didn’t spend at least a couple of hours in the morning on company business? Was it really not enough to let one of the trainees make enquiries—assuming enquiries were even necessary—did the chief clerk have to come himself, and did they have…

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Excerpt #11, from Anne of the Island, by L. M. Montgomery

…that killing? Especially on this Avenue of Pinehursts and Elmwolds and Cedarcrofts? ‘Patty’s Place,’ if you please! I adore it.” “Have you any idea who Patty is?” asked Priscilla. “Patty Spofford is the name of the old lady who owns it, I’ve discovered. She lives there with her niece, and they’ve lived there for hundreds of years, more or less—maybe a little less, Anne. Exaggeration is merely a flight of poetic fancy. I understand that wealthy folk have tried to buy the lot time and again—it’s really worth a small fortune now, you know—but ‘Patty’ won’t sell upon any consideration. And there’s an apple orchard behind the house in place of a back yard—you’ll see it when we get a little past—a real apple orchard on Spofford Avenue!” “I’m going to dream about ‘Patty’s Place’ tonight,” said Anne. “Why, I feel as if I belonged to it. I wonder if, by any chance, we’ll ever see the inside of it.” “It isn’t likely,” said Priscilla. Anne smiled mysteriously. “No, it isn’t likely. But I believe it will happen. I have a queer, creepy, crawly feeling—you can call it a presentiment, if you like—that ‘Patty’s Place’ and I are going to be better acquainted yet.” Chapter VII…

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Excerpt #12, from Psychology and Social Practice, by John Dewey

…pedagogical rendering of psychological facts and principles. Of necessity, the stress of interest will be elsewhere. But we have already found reason for questioning the possibility of making the somewhat different direction of interest into a rigid dualism of a legislative class on one side and an obedient subject class on the other. Can the teacher ever receive “obligatory prescriptions”? Can he receive from another a statement of the means by which he is to reach his ends, and not become hopelessly servile in his attitude? Would not such a result be even worse than the existing mixture of empiricism and inspiration?–just because it would forever fossilize the empirical element and dispel the inspiration which now quickens routine. Can a passive, receptive attitude on the part of the instructor (suggesting the soldier awaiting orders from a commanding general) be avoided, unless the teacher, as a student of psychology, himself sees the reasons and import of the suggestions and rules that are proffered him? I quote a passage that seems of significance: “Do we not lay a special linking science everywhere else between the theory and practical work? We have engineering between physics and the practical workingmen in the mills; we have a scientific medicine between the natural science and the physician” (p. 138). The sentences suggest, in an almost startling way, that the real essence of the problem is found in an organic connection…

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