Now, my dear anti-Shandeans, and thrice able criticks, and fellow-labourers (for to you I write this Preface)——and to you, most subtle statesmen and discreet doctors (do—pull off your beards) renowned for gravity and wisdom;—— Monopolus, my politician— Didius, my 48 counsel; Kysarcius, my friend;— Phutatorius, my guide;—— Gastripheres, the preserver of my life; Somnolentius, the balm and repose of it——not forgetting all others, as well sleeping as waking, ecclesiastical as civil, whom for brevity, but out of no resentment to you, I lump all together.——Believe me, right worthy, My most zealous wish and fervent prayer in your behalf, and in my own too, in case the thing is not done already for us——is, that the great gifts and endowments both of wit and judgment, with every thing which usually goes along with them——such as memory, fancy, genius, eloquence, quick parts, and what not, may this precious moment, without stint or measure, let or hindrance, be poured down warm as each of us could bear it—scum and sediment and all (for I would not have a drop lost) into the several receptacles, cells, cellules, domiciles, dormitories, refectories, and spare places of our brains——in such sort, that they might continue to be injected 49 and tunn’d into, according to the true intent and meaning of my wish, until every vessel of them, both great and small, be so replenish’d, saturated, and filled up therewith, that no more, would it save a man’s life, could possibly be got either in or out.
— from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

Adj. filamentous, filamentiferous[obs3], filaceous[obs3], filiform[obs3]; fibrous, fibrillous[obs3]; thread-like, wiry, stringy, ropy; capillary, capilliform[obs3]; funicular, wire-drawn; anguilliform[obs3]; flagelliform[obs3]; hairy &c. (rough) 256; taeniate[obs3], taeniform[obs3], taenioid[obs3]; venose[obs3], venous.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget

Mourning weeds for Hearts forlorn, Which, though you must not love, you could not scorn, return Contents Contents p.2 No. 51
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

the bluffs are very high steep rugged, containing considerable quantities of stone and border the river closely on both sides; once perhaps in the course of several miles there will be a few acres of tolerably level land in which two or thre impoverished cottonwood trees will be seen.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark

below for the Beeds & copper, which they are So fond of—They are nearly necked, prefuring beeds to anything—Those Beeds they trafick with Indians Still higher up this river for Skins robes &c. &c.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark

Rasour , sb. razor, C2, C, W2; rasure , H (Ps. 51. 2).—OF. rasoir ; Late Lat. rasorium .
— from A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580 by A. L. (Anthony Lawson) Mayhew

The various transactions of peace and war had introduced some Roman coins (chiefly silver) among the borderers of the Rhine and Danube; but the more distant tribes were absolutely unacquainted with the use of money, carried on their confined traffic by the exchange of commodities, and prized their rude earthen vessels as of equal value with the silver vases, the presents of Rome to their princes and ambassadors.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

A hubbub broke out, rose in crescendo with bursts of shrill voices (they yelled, barked, stamped, repeated “Charbovari! Charbovari”), then died away into single notes, growing quieter only with great difficulty, and now and again suddenly recommencing along the line of a form
— from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

But it contains no answer to the objection, that, as the notion of absolute simplicity is not a conception which is directly applicable to a perception, but is an idea which must be inferred—if at all—from observation, it is by no means evident how the mere fact of consciousness, which is contained in all thought, although in so far a simple representation, can conduct me to the consciousness and cognition of a thing which is purely a thinking substance.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant

My humble abilities in this direction have never ceased to be a source of wonderment to my acquaintance, though I confess, for my own part, when I compare them with those of Blind Tom, or of the man who, after a single reading, could correctly repeat the London Times, advertisements and all, they seem modest indeed.
— from The Darrow Enigma by Melvin L. (Melvin Linwood) Severy

It projected, when hung up in the drawing-room of the parsonage at Haworth, some eight inches from the wall; this was the one Mrs. Gaskell saw, of which she says:—'I have seen Branwell's profile; it is what would be generally esteemed very handsome; the forehead is massive, the eye well set, and the expression of it fine and intellectual; the nose, too, is good; but there are coarse lines about the mouth, and the lips, though of handsome shape, are loose and thick, indicating self-indulgence, while the slightly retreating chin conveys an idea of weakness of will.'
— from The Brontë Family, with special reference to Patrick Branwell Brontë. Vol. 2 of 2 by Francis A. Leyland

Sometimes, in more daring moods, he would venture farther afield, balancing cautiously on a beam to some remote cobwebby corner to examine nearer an object that had lured him long with its air of the unattainable.
— from The Open Question: A Tale of Two Temperaments by Elizabeth Robins

No school let out for an unexpected holiday, no herd of stampeded range cattle, conducts itself more miscellaneously.
— from Lin McLean by Owen Wister

Sam read: CORONA COLLEGE
— from Rimrock Trail by Dunn, J. Allan, (Joseph Allan)

In General David Waterbury’s State Regiment, Captain Charles Smith’s Company, were the following New Milford men: Sergt.
— from Two Centuries of New Milford Connecticut An Account of the Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Founding of the Town Held June 15, 16, 17, and 18, 1907, With a Number of Historical Articles and Reminiscences by Various

"Methought it was some angel visitor from the unseen world," answered Raymond, "flitting into yon dark prison house, where it seemed that no such radiant creature could dwell.
— from In the Days of Chivalry: A Tale of the Times of the Black Prince by Evelyn Everett-Green

"The surprise is mutual, I assure you, sir," rejoined Clarence, coldly, and with slightly agitated manner.
— from The Garies and Their Friends by Frank J. Webb