The Natural History of Reptiles and Serpents: To which is Added, an Appendix, Containing an Account of Worms, of Corals, and of Sponges

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J. Jones, 1824 - 178 pages

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Page 62 - I've seen it, sir, as well as you, And must again affirm it blue; At leisure I the beast surveyed Extended in the cooling shade." " 'Tis green, 'tis green, sir, I assure ye." "Green!" cries the other in a fury; "Why, sir, d'ye think I've lost my eyes?" " Twere no great loss," the friend replies; "For if they always serve you thus, You'll find them but of little use.
Page 61 - And what a length of tail behind ! How slow its pace ! and then its hue — Who ever saw so fine a blue?"
Page 61 - I've seen — and sure I ought to know — " So begs you'd pay a due submission And acquiesce in his decision. Two travellers, of such a cast, As o'er Arabia's wilds they passed, And on their way in friendly chat Now talked of this and then of that, Discoursed awhile, 'mongst other matter, Of the Chameleon's form and nature.
Page 61 - OFT has it been my lot to mark A proud, conceited, talking spark, With eyes that hardly served at most To guard their master 'gainst a post ; Yet round the world the blade has been, To see whatever could be seen. Returning from...
Page 13 - March last, when it was enough awakened to express its resentments by hissing; and, packing it in a box with earth, carried it eighty miles in post-chaises. The rattle and hurry of the journey so perfectly roused it, that when I turned it out on a border, it walked twice down to the bottom of my garden: however, in the evening, the weather being cold, it buried itself in the loose mould, and continues still concealed.
Page 159 - For, to say nothing of half the birds, and some quadrupeds which are almost entirely supported by them, worms seem to be the great promoters of vegetation, which would proceed but lamely without them, by boring, perforating, and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants, by drawing straws and stalks of leaves and twigs into it ; and, most of all, by throwing up such infinite numbers of lumps of earth called worm-casts, which, being their excrement, is a fine...
Page 141 - ... the ditch, its natural element. This was no sooner perceived by the keen-eyed black one than, twisting its tail twice round a stalk of hemp and seizing its adversary by the throat, not by means of its jaws, but by twisting its own neck twice...
Page 63 - I've got it yet, And can produce it." " Pray, sir, do ; I'll lay my life the thing is blue." " And I'll be sworn, that when you've seen The reptile, you'll pronounce him green.
Page 141 - The aggressor was of the black kind, six feet long; the fugitive was a water snake, nearly of equal dimensions. They soon met, and in the fury of their first encounter, they appeared in an instant firmly twisted together; and whilst their united tails beat the ground, they mutually tried with open jaws to lacerate each other. What a fell aspect did they present ! their heads...
Page 63 - I'll eat him." He said : then full before their sight Produced the beast, and lo! — 'twas white. Both stared, the man looked wondrous wise — "My children," the chameleon cries, (Then first the creature found a tongue), "You all are right, and all are wrong: When next you talk of what you view, Think others see as well as you: Nor wonder, if you find that none Prefers your eyesight to his own.

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