And yet it swims, or seems to swim, the main!
— from The Odyssey by Homer

In Selangor, some of the greater bones, at least, have their own mystic nomenclature, e.g. the backbone, which is called tiang ʿarash , or the “Pillar of the Heavens.” ↑ 14 Of the superstition which forbids the imitation of the royal insignia I can speak personally, as when a set of models of the Selangor regalia were being made for me, with the late Sultan’s full permission and knowledge, I found it impossible to get them made really like the originals either in shape or size, the makers alleging their fear of being struck dead in spite of this permission by this Divine Power or “Daulat” if they were to imitate them too accurately.
— from Malay Magic Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay Peninsula by Walter William Skeat

Sam had solaced himself with a most agreeable little dinner, and was waiting at the bar for the glass of warm mixture in which Mr. Pickwick had requested him to drown the fatigues of his morning’s walks, when a young boy of about three feet high, or thereabouts, in a hairy cap and fustian overalls, whose garb bespoke a laudable ambition to attain in time the elevation of an hostler, entered the passage of the George and Vulture, and looked first up the stairs, and then along the passage, and then into the bar, as if in search of somebody to whom he bore a commission; whereupon the barmaid, conceiving it not improbable that the said commission might be directed to the tea or table spoons of the establishment, accosted the boy with— ‘Now, young man, what do you want?’
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

That functionary, however, had not failed, during his circumgyratory movements, to bestow a thought upon the important subject of securing the packet in question, which was seen, upon inspection, to have fallen into the most proper hands, being actually addressed to himself and Professor Rub-a-dub, in their official capacities of President and Vice-President of the Rotterdam College of Astronomy.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 1 by Edgar Allan Poe

On the night of the entertainment at the Rosa's house, I saw old Schmidt, (that was the Austrian's name) standing up by a hogshead, holding on by both hands, and calling out to himself—"Hold on, Schmidt!
— from Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana

It was like meeting an old friend when we read Rue de Rivoli on the street corner; we knew the genuine vast palace of the Louvre as well as we knew its picture; when we passed by the Column of July we needed no one to tell us what it was or to remind us that on its site once stood the grim Bastille, that grave of human hopes and happiness, that dismal prison house within whose dungeons so many young faces put on the wrinkles of age, so many proud spirits grew humble, so many brave hearts broke.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

The scene as I stood or sat, the delicate and wild odor of the woods, a slightly drizzling rain, the emotional atmosphere of the place, and the inferr'd reminiscences, were fitting accompaniments.
— from Complete Prose Works Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Goodbye My Fancy by Walt Whitman

But when the long Cavalcade and Proclamation ended; and our huge Flag was fixed on the Pont Neuf, another like it on the Hotel-de-Ville, to wave there till better days; and each Municipal sat in the centre of his Section, in a Tent raised in some open square, Tent surmounted with flags of Patrie en danger, and topmost of all a Pike and Bonnet Rouge; and, on two drums in front of him, there lay a plank-table, and on this an open Book, and a Clerk sat, like recording-angel, ready to write the Lists, or as we say to enlist!
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle

These formulæ show merely the relative position occupied by caffein in the purin group, and do not in any wise indicate, because of its similarity of structure to the other compounds, that it has the same physiological action.
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

“I take the greatest delight in scoring off science teachers everywhere.
— from Priscilla's Spies by George A. Birmingham

My delight in everything beautiful increases daily, and I now count and appreciate the innumerable alleviations that life has in every twenty-four hours, even in its seasons of severest trial.
— from Records of Later Life by Fanny Kemble

In older countries the stained and ancient stone houses are symbols of the inflexible state of society to which they belong.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 63, January, 1863 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

I was at a loss what to answer, but I stammered out somewhat to the effect that such was our Christian duty.
— from Marjorie by Justin H. (Justin Huntly) McCarthy

His governorship having ceased, Sir William Phips sailed for England, and was meditating a fresh expedition in search of shipwrecked treasure when he was taken suddenly ill, and died at the age of forty-five.
— from St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 4, February 1878 by Various

In speaking of sexual things in the towns people veil their thought more; even the lower class in towns employ more restraint, more euphemisms, than peasants.
— from Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 Sex in Relation to Society by Havelock Ellis

It is held by some naturalists that the child is only a zoophyte, with a stomach, and feelers radiating from it in search of something to fill it.
— from The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner — Volume 1 by Charles Dudley Warner

She sang the famous 'Canticle to the Virgin,' which, it is said, once saved the life of Stradella.
— from Among the Great Masters of Music Scenes in the Lives of Famous Musicians by Walter Rowlands

One of the most enlightened statesmen in Spain once said to me, "The provision for freedom of worship in the constitution is a mere abstract proposition,-- 86 CASTILIAN DAYS it can never have any practical value except for foreigners.
— from Castilian Days by John Hay