Non-Classifiable Books

NATURE OF FUNGI. The most casual observer of Nature recognizes in almost every instance that comes under his notice in every-day life, without the aid of logical definition, the broad distinctions between an animal, a plant, and a stone. To him, the old definition that an animal is possessed of life and locomotion, a plant of life without locomotion, and a mineral deficient in both, seems to be... more...

THE ABENAKI INDIANS. The present spirit of inquiry into the early history of New England is bringing forth additional facts and evolving new light, by which we are every day seeing more clearly the true motive and incentives for its colonization. But whenever the student turns to investigate the history of the aboriginal tribes, who once inhabited this part of the country, he is struck, not so much... more...

FOREWORD Hat-making is an art which may be acquired by any one possessing patience and ordinary ability. To make a hat for the trade is not as difficult as to make one for an individual; neither is it so high a phase of art. Many rules are given for crown-height, brim-width, and color, as being suited to different types of faces, but they are so often misleading that it seems best to consider only a... more...

INTRODUCTION I. ON CORREGGIO'S CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST. The art of Correggio was very justly summed up by his first biographer, Vasari. After pointing out that in the matter of drawing and composition the artist would scarcely have won a reputation, the writer goes on to say: "To Correggio belongs the great praise of having attained the highest point of perfection in coloring, whether his works... more...

PROLOGUE   Inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te.  "Our heart finds no rest until it rests in Thee." Confessions, I, i. Saint Augustin is now little more than a celebrated name. Outside of learned or theological circles people no longer read him. Such is true renown: we admire the saints, as we do great men, on trust. Even his Confessions are generally spoken of only from... more...

CHAPTER I. THE STUDY OF ILLUSION. Common sense, knowing nothing of fine distinctions, is wont to draw a sharp line between the region of illusion and that of sane intelligence. To be the victim of an illusion is, in the popular judgment, to be excluded from the category of rational men. The term at once calls up images of stunted figures with ill-developed brains, half-witted creatures, hardly... more...

I.THE PROBLEM PRESENTED. The word "trust," standing for one of the noblest faculties of the heart, has always held an honorable place in our language. It is one of the strange occurrences by which languages become indelible records of great facts in the history of the world, that this word has recently acquired a new meaning, which, to the popular ear at least, is as hateful as the old meaning... more...

CHAPTER I Of the first founders of the Monastery at Mount St. Agnes, and how Master Gerard Groote first pointed out this place to them The House of Mount St. Agnes, which lieth outside the walls of the town of Zwolle, and on the eastern side thereof, had its origin and completion in this way. The place used to be called in the vulgar tongue Mount Nemel and lieth not far from Zwolle, but one may... more...

CHAPTER I. Very nearly a generation of time has elapsed since, in 1886, Mr. Gladstone expounded in the British House of Commons his first Bill for restoring to Ireland a Home Rule Parliament. Nearly twenty years have passed since that same great man, indomitably defying age and infirmities in the pursuit of his great ideal, passed the second Home Rule Bill (1893) through the British House of Commons.... more...

OLD TESTAMENT STORIES ADAM AND EVE. In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth He also made the sun, moon, and stars; trees, flowers, and all vegetable life; and all animals, birds, fishes, and insects. Then God made man. The name of the first man was Adam, and the first woman was Eve. Both were placed in a beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden, where they might have been happy continually... more...