A Natural History of the Globe: Of Man, of Beasts, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Insects, and Plants, Volume 4 |
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
America animal appears approach armed beginning belly bill bird boat body bones bottom broad brown called caught close coasts colour common continue countries covered creature danger deep distance DUCK easily eggs eight England equal extremely eyes feed feet female fins fish five flesh four frequently fresh furnished genus grows half head hole hundred inches inhabitants keep killed kind known lakes land larger leave legs length less live manner marked middle motion mouth move nature neck never observed placed pounds prey rays resembles rest rivers round scales season seems seen seize seldom Serpent Shark shell shore short side skin sometimes soon spawn species spines strong surface swimming tail taken teeth thick tribe turn upper usually weighs whale whole wings wound yellow young
Popular passages
Page 129 - These yellowish and livid eels, resembling large aquatic serpents, swim on the surface of the water, and crowd under the bellies of the horses and mules. A contest between animals of so different an organization, furnishes a very striking spectacle.
Page 208 - May to begin their expedition ; and then sally out by thousands from the stumps of hollow trees, from the clefts of rocks, and from the holes which they dig for themselves under the surface of the earth. At that time the whole ground is covered with this band of adventurers; there is no setting down one's foot without treading upon them.
Page 130 - Indians, provided with harpoons and long slender reeds, surround the pool closely ; and some climb upon the trees, the branches of which extend horizontally over the surface of the water. By their wild cries, and the length of their reeds, they prevent the horses from running away and reaching the bank of the pool. The eels, stunned by the noise, defend themselves by the repeated discharge of their electric batteries.
Page 130 - Indians into the middle of the water; but a small number succeed in eluding the active vigilance of the fishermen. These regain the shore, stumbling at every step, and stretch themselves on the sand, exhausted with fatigue, and their limbs benumbed by the electric shocks of the gymnoti.
Page 176 - ... ocean. It is divided into distinct columns of five or six miles in length and three or four in breadth, and they drive the water before them with a kind of rippling...
Page 56 - THE cormorant is about the size of a large Muscovy duck, and may be distinguished from all other birds of this kind, by its four toes being united by membranes together ; and by the middle toe being toothed, or notched, like a saw, to assist it in holding its fishy prey. The head and neck of this bird are of a sooty blackness ; and the body thick and heavy, more inclining in figure to that of the goose than the gull.
Page 294 - These erect and put themselves in motion at the word of command. When their keeper sings a slow tune, they seem by their heads to keep time ; when he sings a quicker measure, they appear to move more brisk and...
Page 58 - They hunt about, they plunge, they rise a hundred times to the surface, until they have at last found their prey. They then seize it with their beak by the middle, and carry it without fail to their master. When the fish is too large, they then give each other mutual assistance : one seizes it by the head, the other by the tail, and in this manner carry it to the boat together.
Page 293 - He then saw the manner in which the eggs of these animals lie in the womb. In this creature there were six eggs, each of the size of a goose egg, but longer, more pointed, and covered with a membranous skin, by which also they were united to each other. Each of these eggs contained from thirteen to fifteen young ones, about six inches long, and as thick as a goose-quill. Though the female from...
Page 287 - But as we descend into more enlightened antiquity, we find these animals less formidable, as being attacked in a more successful manner. We are told^ that while Regulus led his army along the banks of the river Bagrada in Africa, an enormous serpent disputed his passage over. We are assured by Pliny, -who says that he himself saw the skin, that it was a hundred and twenty feet long, and that it bad destroyed many of the army.
Bibliographic information
| Title | A Natural History of the Globe: Of Man, of Beasts, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Insects, and Plants, Volume 4 A Natural History of the Globe: Of Man, of Beasts, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Insects, and Plants, Georges Louis Leclerc comte de Buffon |
| Author | Georges Louis Leclerc comte de Buffon |
| Editor | John Wright (F.Z.S.) |
| Publisher | Gray & Bowen, 1831 |
| Original from | Harvard University |
| Digitized | 12 Feb 2008 |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |