The shovelfuls of loam, black as jet, brought there by the river when it was as wide as the whole valley, were an essence of soils, pounded champaigns of the past, steeped, refined, and subtilized to extraordinary richness, out of which came all the fertility of the mead, and of the cattle grazing there.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy

During the remainder of the afternoon Franceline worked away diligently at the Causes of the French Revolution, and spent the evening reading aloud.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 22, October, 1875, to March, 1876 A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science by Various

The major at once recalled the men from their pursuit, and, leaving Lieutenant Mumford with a hundred rifles to meet a renewed attack should the enemy recover from their panic, he hurried back with the main part of his force to support the hundred with Captain Lister up-stream.
— from Tom Burnaby: A Story of Uganda and the Great Congo Forest by Herbert Strang

The sun must always appear to be on this circle, not only at all times of the year but at all hours of the day; for as the sun rises and sets, the ecliptic rises and sets also, since the earth’s rotation causes an apparent daily revolution not only of the sun, moon, and planets but also of the fixed stars and so of the whole celestial sphere and of all the circles whose positions upon it do not vary.
— from Astronomical Lore in Chaucer by Florence M. (Florence Marie) Grimm

Sometimes that end requires ruthlessness, and sometimes that end requires that we starve in one way or another, so we must be prepared for sacrifice perhaps of life, or what makes life worth living, if we are strong enough to keep vows which we have been short-sighted enough to make too hastily."
— from The Price of Things by Elinor Glyn

When the thigh is slightly flexed the wall of the abdomen is relaxed and should the external ring be not dilated by the protrusion of a large hernia the relaxation obtained by the flexing of the thigh and allowing the flexed leg to rest against the other will relax and dilate the external ring somewhat so that it may facilitate the free passage of the needle and it will also permit of the more free moving of the point of the needle in the loose cellular tissues as the needle is gradually withdrawn.
— from The Cure of Rupture by Paraffin Injections by Charles Conrad Miller

At present the general staff of the French army consists of nine marshals, (twelve in time of war;) eighty lieutenant-generals in active service, fifty-two in reserve, and sixty two en retraite —one hundred and ninety-four in all; one hundred and sixty maréchaux-de-camp in active service, eighty-six in reserve, and one hundred and ninety en retraite —
— from Elements of Military Art and Science Or, Course Of Instruction In Strategy, Fortification, Tactics Of Battles, &C.; Embracing The Duties Of Staff, Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, And Engineers; Adapted To The Use Of Volunteers And Militia; Third Edition; With Critical Notes On The Mexican And Crimean Wars. by H. W. (Henry Wager) Halleck