A History of the Earth and Animated Nature, Volume 1Blackie and Son, 1856 - Natural history |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Africa animal antelope appear argalis aurora borealis beautiful become bezoar bison body bones breed Buffon called caracal carnivorous chamois climate colour considered continue covered creature Cuvier deer distance ears earth Egypt extremely eyes feet female flesh fluid former fossil globe goat hair head heat herd History of Greenland horns horse hundred inches India inhabitants island kind known Lapland legs length leopard less lion live lynx manner miles motion mountains mouth native nature neck never observed ocean oviparous Persia prey produced proportion quadrupeds quantity race resembles rise river rocks round scarcely Scotland seems seen Senegal sheep short side skin sometimes species stag strata substance supposed surface tail teeth thick tiger tion trade wind vapours variety vegetable weight whole wild wind wolf wool
Popular passages
Page 73 - the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing ;" neither the mind with any degree of knowledge which can be conveyed into it.
Page 262 - I understand thee perfectly, answered I If thou takest a wrong step in this affair, he will cudgel thee to death Well ! a minute is but a minute, and if it saves a fellow-creature a drubbing, it shall not be set down as ill spent.
Page 23 - That it was aquatic, is evident from the form of its paddles ; that it was marine, is almost equally so, from the remains with which it is universally associated ; that it may have occasionally visited the shore, the resemblance of its extremities to those of the turtle may lead us to conjecture. Its motion, however, must have been very awkward on land; its long neck must have impeded its progress through the water ; presenting a striking contrast to the organisation which so admirably fits the Ichthyosaurus...
Page 77 - So great is the quantity of mud and sand poured by the Ganges into the gulf in the flood season, that the sea only recovers its transparency at the distance of sixty miles from the coast.
Page 52 - We waited, therefore, till the cloud had passed away : then turning to look for the city, it was totally sunk. Wonderful to tell ! nothing but a dismal and putrid lake was seen where it stood.
Page 103 - Some mariners out at sea one day observing something at a distance from them, regarded it as a sea-monster; but upon its approach it was known to be Nicholas, whom they took into their ship. When they asked him whither he was going in so stormy and rough a sea, and at such a distance from land, he...
Page 106 - ... came to prepare with all haste for a storm. The barometer had begun to fall with appalling rapidity. As yet, the oldest sailors had not perceived even a threatening in the sky, and were surprised at the extent and hurry of the preparations: but the required measures were not completed, when a more awful hurricane burst upon them than the most experienced had ever braved.
Page 96 - A minute description of the internal parts is not to be expected, since none who were there ever returned to bring back information. The body of the waters that form this whirlpool are extended in a circle above thirteen miles in circumference. In the midst of this stands a rock, against which the tide in its ebb is dashed with inconceivable fury. At this time it instantly swallows up all things that come within the sphere of its violence — trees, timber, and shipping.
Page 98 - But we need scarcely mention these, when we find that the whole republic of Holland seems to be a conquest upon the sea, and in a manner rescued from its bosom.* The surface of the earth, in this country, is below the level of the bed of the sea ; and I remember, upon approaching the coast, to...
Page 30 - The air rushes in storms, prepares the tempests, or lights up the volcano ; but the earth, gentle and indulgent, ever subservient to the wants of man, spreads his walks with flowers, and his table with plenty; returns with interest every good committed to her care ; and though she produces the poison, she still supplies the antidote ; though constantly teased more to furnish the luxuries of man than his necessities, yet even to the last, she continues her kind indulgence, and when life is over, she...