The phenomena of medical cupping-glasses and of the swallowing of drink and of the projection of bodies, whether discharged in the air or bowled along the ground, are to be investigated on a similar principle; and swift and slow sounds, which appear to be high and low, and are sometimes discordant on account of their inequality, and then again harmonical on account of the equality of the motion which they excite in us.
— from Timaeus by Plato

The butler's evening dress differs from that of a gentleman in a few details only: he has no braid on his trousers, and the satin on his lapels (if any) is narrower, but the most distinctive difference is that a butler wears a black waistcoat and a white lawn tie, and a gentleman always wears a white waistcoat with a white tie, or a white waistcoat and a black tie with a dinner coat, but never the reverse.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post

i. p. 329, 330, 331) has found, by a diligent inquiry, that aurei of the Antonines weighed one hundred and eighteen, and those of the fifth century only sixty-eight, English grains.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

Hence, in the three classes, the tetrachords are equally composed of two tones and a semitone, but when they are regarded separately according to the terms of each class, they differ in the arrangement of their intervals.
— from The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio

In addition to this, Australasia does a trade with countries other than England, amounting to a hundred million dollars a year, and a domestic intercolonial trade amounting to a hundred and fifty millions.
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain

This differed in the different dialects; in the Attic of the fourth century B.C. it was approximately that of English z in zeal , while its earlier value was zd .
— from A Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges by George Martin Lane

It comforts me for not being able to hire a lot of stupid undertaker's things for my poor child, and seeming as if I was trying to smuggle 'em out of this world with him, when of course I must break down in the attempt, and bring 'em all back again.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

To prevent this calamity, as soon as I was untied, in consequence of the aforesaid decision, I tore a small hole in one of my stockings, into which I dropped six guineas, reserving half a piece and some silver in my pocket, that, finding something, they might not be tempted to make any further inquiry.
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. (Tobias) Smollett

I had considered it as a defect in the admirable poem of THE TASK, that the subject, which gives the title to the work, was not, and indeed could not be, carried on beyond the three or four first pages, and that, throughout the poem, the connections are frequently awkward, and the transitions abrupt and arbitrary.
— from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

It is true, this man was a Roman, and perhaps it may give offence to some hereafter, if I leave any thing extraordinary upon record of a man, whom, before I begin, I must (to set him out in just colours) represent in terms very much to his disadvantage in the account of Protestants; as, first, that he was a Papist; secondly, a Popish priest; and thirdly, a French Popish priest.
— from The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808) by Daniel Defoe

If lime is stored unslaked, it gradually absorbs moisture from the air, falling, and soon becoming dusty and difficult to slake completely, while the traces of carbon dioxide in the air gradually convert it into useless carbonate.
— from The Principles of Leather Manufacture by H. R. (Henry Richardson) Procter

This will soon draw it to a head.
— from Barkham Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889 by Barkham Burroughs

In the district intervening there are two great lakes; one is open to the sea, and is used as a harbour, 2685 the other has no outlet.
— from The Geography of Strabo, Volume 1 (of 3) Literally Translated, with Notes by Strabo

Wild mountain scenery is not very good to describe, nor do I think any distinct impressions are ever conveyed by such attempts; so I mean to be brief in what I saw about this part of our tour, especially as I suspect that I have said whatever I knew how to say in the record of my former visit to the Highlands.
— from Passages from the English Notebooks, Volume 2. by Nathaniel Hawthorne

If I do but get enough to carry me decently thro' the world and independently thro' the History of the Revolution, I neither wish nor care for more; and that the States may very easily do if they are disposed to it.
— from The Life Of Thomas Paine, Vol. 1. (of 2) With A History of His Literary, Political and Religious Career in America France, and England; to which is added a Sketch of Paine by William Cobbett by Moncure Daniel Conway

Cornelia's pure, wonderful charms appeared so vividly before his soul that he turned with repugnance from the desecrated image that allured him.
— from A Twofold Life by Wilhelmine von Hillern

According to his own statement, Melanchthon embodied Luther's doctrine in the Augsburg Confession and rejected that of the Zwinglians.
— from Historical Introductions to the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church by F. (Friedrich) Bente

It is disagreeable in taste and may produce harmful results.
— from School and Home Cooking by Carlotta C. (Carlotta Cherryholmes) Greer

On a certain fixed date in the autumn the German stakes his flowers and bushes to the earth, and covers them with Chinese matting; and on a certain fixed date in the spring he uncovers them, and stands them up again.
— from Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome