The Dominion of the Airby J. M. BaconCHAPTER I. THE DAWN OF AERONAUTICS."He that would learn to fly must be brought up to the constant practice of it from his youth, trying first only to use his wings as a tame goose will do, so by degrees learning to rise higher till he attain unto skill and confidence."So wrote Wilkins, Bishop of Chester, who was reckoned a man of genius and learning in the days of the Commonwealth. But so soon as we come to inquire into the matter we find that this good Bishop was borrowing from the ideas of others who had gone before him; and, look back as far as we wil　

On Public Creditby David HumeIt appears to have been the common practice of antiquity,make provision, during peace, for the necessities of war, and tohoard up treasures before-hand, as the instruments either ofconquest or defence; without trusting to extraordinaryimpositions, much less to borrowing, in times of disorder andconfusion. Besides the immense sums above mentioned, which wereamassed by ATHENS, and by the PTOLEMIES, and other successors ofALEXANDER; we learn from PLATO, that the frugal LACEDEMONIANS hadalso collected a great treasure; and ARRIAN and PLUTARCH take...　

The Libraryby Andrew LangContents:PREFATORY NOTEAN APOLOGY FOR THE BOOK-HUNTERTHE LIBRARYTHE BOOKS OF THE COLLECTORILLUSTRATED BOOKSBooks, books again, and books once more!These are our theme, which some miscallMere madness, setting little storeBy copies either short or tall.But you, O slaves of shelf and stall!We rather write for you that holdPatched folios dear, and prize "the small,Rare volume, black with tarnished gold."A. D.PREFATORY NOTEThe pages in this volume on illuminated and other MSS. (with the exception of some anecdotes about Bussy Rabutin and Julie de Rambouillet) have been con　

Swan Songby Anton CheckovPLAYS BY ANTON TCHEKOFFTRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN, WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MARIAN FELLCONTENTSIntroductionChronological List of WorksThe Swan SongINTRODUCTIONANTON TCHEKOFFTHE last years of the nineteenth century were for Russia tingedwith doubt and gloom. The high-tide of vitality that had risenduring the Turkish war ebbed in the early eighties, leavingbehind it a dead level of apathy which lasted until life wasagain quickened by the high interests of the Revolution. Duringthese grey years the lonely country and stagnant provincial towns...　

Flatland: A Romance of Many DimensionsEdwin A. Abbott (1838-1926. English scholar, theologian, and writer.)ToThe Inhabitants of SPACE IN GENERALAnd H. C. IN PARTICULARThis Work is DedicatedBy a Humble Native of FlatlandIn the Hope thatEven as he was Initiated into the MysteriesOf THREE DimensionsHaving been previously conversantWith ONLY TWO...　

Father Goriotby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Ellen MarriageTo the great and illustrious Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, a tokenof admiration for his works and genius.DE BALZAC.Mme. Vauquer (nee de Conflans) is an elderly person, who for thepast forty years has kept a lodging-house in the Rue Nueve-Sainte-Genevieve, in the district that lies between the LatinQuarter and the Faubourg Saint-Marcel. Her house (known in theneighborhood as the Maison Vauquer) receives men and women, oldand young, and no word has ever been breathed against her...　

PRESTER JOHNJOHN BUCHANTOLIONEL PHILLIPSTime, they say, must the best of us capture,And travel and battle and gems and goldNo more can kindle the ancient rapture,For even the youngest of hearts grows old.But in you, I think, the boy is not over;So take this medley of ways and warsAs the gift of a friend and a fellow-loverOf the fairest country under the stars.J. B.CONTENTSi. The Man on the Kirkcaple Shoreii. Furth! Fortune!iii. Blaauwildebeestefonteiniv. My Journey to the Winter-Veldv. Mr Wardlaw Has a Premonition...　

On Books and the Housing of Themby William Ewart GladstoneIn the old age of his intellect (which atthis point seemed to taste a little ofdecrepitude), Strauss declared [1] that the doctrine ofimmortality has recently lost the assistanceof a passable argument, inasmuch as it hasbeen discovered that the stars are inhabited;for where, he asks, could room now be foundfor such a multitude of souls? Again, in viewof the current estimates of prospectivepopulation for this earth, some people have begun toentertain alarm for the probable condition of...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE BIRD OF POPULAR SONGby Hans Christian AndersenIT is winter-time. The earth wears a snowy garment, and looks likemarble hewn out of the rock; the air is bright and clear; the windis sharp as a well-tempered sword, and the trees stand like branchesof white coral or blooming almond twigs, and here it is keen as on thelofty Alps.The night is splendid in the gleam of the Northern Lights, andin the glitter of innumerable twinkling stars.But we sit in the warm room, by the hot stove, and talk about...　

THE ALHAMBRAby Washington IrvingPreface to the Revised Edition.Rough draughts of some of the following tales and essays wereactually written during a residence in the Alhambra; others weresubsequently added, founded on notes and observations made there. Carewas taken to maintain local coloring and verisimilitude; so that thewhole might present a faithful and living picture of that microcosm,that singular little world into which I had been fortuitously...　

Little Travels and Roadside Sketchesby William Makepeace ThackerayI. FROM RICHMOND IN SURREY TO BRUSSELS IN BELGIUMII. GHENTBRUGES:Ghent (1840)BrugesIII. WATERLOOLITTLE TRAVELS AND ROADSIDE SKETCHESI.FROM RICHMOND IN SURREY TO BRUSSELS IN BELGIUM. . . I quitted the "Rose Cottage Hotel" at Richmond, one of thecomfortablest, quietest, cheapest, neatest little inns in England,and a thousand times preferable, in my opinion, to the "Star andGarter," whither, if you go alone, a sneering waiter, with his hair...　

400 BCON HEMORRHOIDSby Hippocratestranslated by Francis AdamsThe disease of the hemorrhoids is formed in this way: if bile orphlegm be determined to the veins in the rectum, it heats the blood inthe veins; and these veins becoming heated attract blood from thenearest veins, and being gorged the inside of the gut swellsoutwardly, and the heads of the veins are raised up, and being atthe same time bruised by the faeces passing out, and injured by the...　

The Land of the Changing Sunby William N. HarbenChapter I.The balloon seemed scarcely to move, though it was slowly sinking toward the ocean of white clouds which hung between it and the earth.The two inmates of the car were insensible; their faces were bloodless, their cheeks sunken. They were both young and handsome. Harry Johnston, an American, was as dark and sallow as a Spaniard. Charles Thorndyke, an English gentleman, had yellow hair and mustache, blue eyes and a fine intellectual face. Both were tall, athletic in build and well-proportioned.Johnston was the first to come to consciousn　

The Autobiography of a QuackS. Weir Mitchell, MD, LLDTHE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A QUACKANDTHE CASE OF GEORGE DEDLOWBYS. WEIR MITCHELL, M.D.,LL.D. HARVARD AND EDINBURGHCONTENTSTHE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A QUACKTHE CASE OF GEORGE DEDLOWINTRODUCTIONBoth of the tales in this little volume appeared originally in the ``Atlantic Monthly' as anonymous contributions. I owe to the present owners of that journal permission to use them. ``The Autobiography of a Quack ' has been recast with large additions.``The Case of George Dedlow' was not written with any intention that it should appear in print. I lent the ma　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE DUMB BOOKby Hans Christian AndersenIN the high-road which led through a wood stood a solitaryfarm-house; the road, in fact, ran right through its yard. The sun wasshining and all the windows were open; within the house people werevery busy. In the yard, in an arbour formed by lilac bushes in fullbloom, stood an open coffin; thither they had carried a dead man,who was to be buried that very afternoon. Nobody shed a tear over him;his face was covered over with a white cloth, under his head they...　

Memoirs of the Comtesse du Barry With Minute Details of Her Entire Career as Favorite of Louis XV"Written by Herself"by Baron Etienne Leon Lamothe-LangonTABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER ILetter from LebelVisit from LebelNothing conclusiveAnother visit from LebelInvitation to sup with the kingInstructions of the comte Jean to the comtesseCHAPTER IIA slight prefaceArrival at VersaillesPortrait of the kingThe duc de RichelieuThe marquis de ChauvelinThe duc de la Vauguyon-Supper with the kingThe first nightThe following dayThe curiosity of comte JeanPresents from the kingHow disposed of...