Book Description

Excerpt from Things Not Generally Known: Familiarly Explained, a Book for Old and Young As the taste of the day favours out-of-the-way reading, I have from its winding paths garnered into this little book a few of its stores for your special gratification. Although the result may not be recommended by the quaint fancy of the British Apollo, or the profundity of the Athenian Oracle, - the Notes and Queries. Of other days, - I have not been unmindful of the value of pith and point upon subjects which you are not asked to take for granted in every instance, but in many cases to weigh and consider. You may, perhaps, say, Your volume contains but a small por tion of the Things not generally Known.' Granted; but here are no fewer than five hundred groups of instances - ln the main, from Popular Science and Antiquarianism: the Heavens and the Earth; the Sea and the Air; Sight and Sound; Life and Death; the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms; the Origins of House and Home; the Festivals of our Calendar; historical glances at Laws and Cur-v toms; Dignitaries of Church and State; National Characteristics; Wonders of our Inventive Age; and a few Curiosities of the Art and Literature of early times. This Edition has been corrected throughout; and several new Articles have been substituted for others of minor interest. For this improvement I am mainly indebted to friendly Correspondents. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.