The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the action of worms withobservations of their habitsby Charles DarwinINTRODUCTION.The share which worms have taken in the formation of the layer ofvegetable mould, which covers the whole surface of the land inevery moderately humid country, is the subject of the presentvolume. This mould is generally of a blackish colour and a fewinches in thickness. In different districts it differs but littlein appearance, although it may rest on various subsoils. Theuniform fineness of the particles of which it is composed is one ofits chief characteristic features; and this may be well observed inany gravelly country, where a recently-ploughed field immediatel　

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 Premonitionvi. The Drums Beat at Sunsetvii. Captain Arcoll Tells a Taleviii. I Fall in Again with the Reverend John Laputa...　

GRACIOSA AND PERCINETONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen who had onecharming daughter. She was so graceful and pretty andclever that she was called Graciosa, and the Queen was so fond ofher that she could think of nothing else.Everyday she gave the Princess a lovely new frock of gold brocade,or satin, or velvet, and when she was hungry she had bowls full ofsugar-plums, and at least twenty pots of jam. Everybody said shewas the happiest Princess in the world. Now there lived at thissame court a very rich old duchess whose name was Grumbly.She was more frightful than tongue can tell; her hair was red asfire, and she had but one eye, and that not a pretty one! Her face...　

The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Volume 2by Charles Dudley WarnerCONTENTS:SAUNTERINGSMISAPPREHENSIONS CORRECTEDI should not like to ask an indulgent and idle public to saunter about with me under a misapprehension. It would be more agreeable to invite it to go nowhere than somewhere; for almost every one has been somewhere, and has written about it. The only compromise I can suggest is, that we shall go somewhere, and not learn anything about it. The instinct of the public against any thing like information in a volume of this kind is perfectly justifiable; and the reader will perhaps discover that this is illy adapted for a text-book in schools, or for the use of competiti　

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE METAPHYSIC OF MORALSby Immanuel Kanttranslated by Thomas Kingsmill AbbottPREFACEAncient Greek philosophy was divided into three sciences: physics,ethics, and logic. This division is perfectly suitable to the natureof the thing; and the only improvement that can be made in it is toadd the principle on which it is based, so that we may both satisfyourselves of its completeness, and also be able to determine correctlythe necessary subdivisions.All rational knowledge is either material or formal: the former...　

Unto This LastJohn Ruskin1860Essays from the Cornhill Magazine 1860reprinted as Unto This Last in 1862The Roots of HonourAmong the delusions which at different periods have possessedthemselves of the minds of large masses of the human race,perhaps the most curious certainly the least creditable isthe modern soi-disant science of political economy, based on theidea that an advantageous code of social action may be determinedirrespectively of the influence of social affection.Of course, as in the instances of alchemy, astrology,witchcraft, and other such popular creeds, political economy, has...　

Polyuecteby Pierre CorneilleTranslated by Thomas ConstableINTRODUCTORY NOTEPierre Corneille was born in Rouen in 1606, the son of an official;was educated by the Jesuits, and practised unsuccessfully as a lawyer.His dramatic career began with the comedy of "Melite," but it was byhis "Medee" that he first proved his tragic genius. "The Cid" appearedin 1636, and a series of masterpieces followed"Horace," "Cinna,""Polyeucte," "Le Menteur." After a failure in "Pertharite" he retiredfrom the stage, deeply hurt by the disapproval of his audience. Sixyears later he resumed play writing with "OEdipe" and continued till...　

Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennesby Robert Louis Stevenson.My Dear Sidney Colvin,The journey which this little book is to describe was veryagreeable and fortunate for me. After an uncouth beginning, I hadthe best of luck to the end. But we are all travellers in whatJohn Bunyan calls the wilderness of this world - all, too,travellers with a donkey: and the best that we find in our travelsis an honest friend. He is a fortunate voyager who finds many. Wetravel, indeed, to find them. They are the end and the reward oflife. They keep us worthy of ourselves; and when we are alone, weare only nearer to the absent....　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENDELAYING IS NOT FORGETTINGby Hans Christian AndersenTHERE was an old mansion surrounded by a marshy ditch with adrawbridge which was but seldom let down:- not all guests are goodpeople. Under the roof were loopholes to shoot through, and to pourdown boiling water or even molten lead on the enemy, should heapproach. Inside the house the rooms were very high and had ceilingsof beams, and that was very useful considering the great deal of smokewhich rose up from the chimney fire where the large, damp logs of woodsmouldered. On the walls hung pictures of knights in armour and...　

FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSENTHE SNOWDROPby Hans Christian AndersenIT was winter-time; the air was cold, the wind was sharp, butwithin the closed doors it was warm and comfortable, and within theclosed door lay the flower; it lay in the bulb under thesnow-covered earth.One day rain fell. The drops penetrated through the snowy coveringdown into the earth, and touched the flower-bulb, and talked of thebright world above. Soon the Sunbeam pierced its way through thesnow to the root, and within the root there was a stirring."Come in," said the flower."I cannot," said the Sunbeam. "I am not strong enough to unlock...　

SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SOLITARY CYCLISTby Sir Arthur Conan DoyleFrom the years 1894 to 1901 inclusive, Mr. Sherlock Holmes was avery busy man. It is safe to say that there was no public case ofany difficulty in which he was not consulted during those eight years,and there were hundreds of private cases, some of them of the mostintricate and extraordinary character, in which he played aprominent part. Many startling successes and a few unavoidablefailures were the outcome of this long period of continuous work. As Ihave preserved very full notes of all these cases, and was myself...　

The Marriage Contractby Honore de BalzacTranslated by Katharine Prescott WormeleyDEDICATIONTo Rossini.THE MARRIAGE CONTRACTCHAPTER IPRO AND CONMonsieur de Manerville, the father, was a worthy Norman gentleman,well known to the Marechael de Richelieu, who married him to one ofthe richest heiresses of Bordeaux in the days when the old dukereigned in Guienne as governor. The Norman then sold the estate heowned in Bessin, and became a Gascon, allured by the beauty of thechateau de Lanstrac, a delightful residence owned by his wife. Duringthe last days of the reign of Louis XV., he bought the post of major...