The Earth and Its Life |
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Page 7
... round the sun , and the whole system , the solar system , as we call it , moves through space . The sun is one star . There are countless others . Some of these are centres of light and heat like the sun ; others are travelling about in ...
... round the sun , and the whole system , the solar system , as we call it , moves through space . The sun is one star . There are countless others . Some of these are centres of light and heat like the sun ; others are travelling about in ...
Page 8
... round it , while Neptune , an outer member of the system , takes not one of our years , but one hundred and sixty - four , to complete its orbit - that is , the path of its revolution . Distances in the solar system , then , are so ...
... round it , while Neptune , an outer member of the system , takes not one of our years , but one hundred and sixty - four , to complete its orbit - that is , the path of its revolution . Distances in the solar system , then , are so ...
Page 9
... round the middle star in the line of three known as the Sword of Orion - but with powerful telescopes about 500,000 are visible . Some of these under the telescope prove to be star clusters - that is , clouds of stars in which the stars ...
... round the middle star in the line of three known as the Sword of Orion - but with powerful telescopes about 500,000 are visible . Some of these under the telescope prove to be star clusters - that is , clouds of stars in which the stars ...
Page 10
... round the sun , and the sun keeps them in their course by the power of gravitation - the force of attraction which all bodies exert on one another in proportion to their mass and the distance between them the force which we know from ...
... round the sun , and the sun keeps them in their course by the power of gravitation - the force of attraction which all bodies exert on one another in proportion to their mass and the distance between them the force which we know from ...
Page 13
... round the sun . The frictional action of the tides , however , very probably prevents the earth from being an absolutely perfect time - keeper , and consequently we cannot be sure that an hour has the same duration as it had a thousand ...
... round the sun . The frictional action of the tides , however , very probably prevents the earth from being an absolutely perfect time - keeper , and consequently we cannot be sure that an hour has the same duration as it had a thousand ...
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Common terms and phrases
adapted algæ Almagest America ancestors ancient apes appearance astronomers barrows birds body bones brain Britain Bronze Age carbon carbon dioxide carboniferous carried cave cells centre century B.C. climate coal continued copper corroboree cycads Darwin decay discovered discovery earliest early earth earth's crust elephant environment epoch Eskimo Europe evolution evolved existence extinct feet fertile fish flint flowering plants forest formed fossil fossil remains Greek Harrap heat higher highly organized horses human implements insects Iron Age island jaws land layers living mammals mammoth material metal Old Stone Piltdown plants and animals plesiosaur prehistoric present day primitive probably produced protoplasm protozoa Ptolemaic system race regions reptiles resembled rhinoceros rocks round round barrows seeds skeletons skull soil solar system species stage stars Stone Age structure surface survive teeth temperature theory tion to-day trees tribes tropical types vegetable weapons wind woolly rhinoceros
Popular passages
Page 51 - It may metaphorically be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinising, throughout the world, the slightest variations ; rejecting those that are bad, preserving and adding up all that are good; silently and insensibly working, whenever and wherever opportunity offers, at the improvement of each organic being in relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life.
Page 47 - These facts, as will be seen in the latter chapters of this volume, seemed to throw some light on the origin of species — that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by one of our greatest philosophers.
Page 47 - Beagle' as naturalist, I was much struck with certain facts in the distribution of the inhabitants of South America, and in the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of that continent. These facts seemed to me to throw some light on the origin of species — that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by one of our greatest philosophers.
Page 47 - On my return home, it occurred to me, in 1837, that something might perhaps be made out on this question by patiently accumulating and reflecting on all sorts of facts which could possibly have any bearing on it. After five years...
Page 49 - Owing to this struggle, variations, however slight and from whatever cause proceeding, if they be in any degree profitable to the individuals of a species, in their infinitely complex relations to other organic beings and to their physical conditions of life, will tend to the preservation of such individuals, and will generally be inherited by the offspring.
Page 144 - The contents of a native woman's bag are : — A flat stone to pound roots with ; earth to mix with the pounded roots ; quartz, for the purpose of making spears and knives ; stones for hatchets ; prepared cakes of gum, to make and mend weapons, and implements ; kangaroo sinews to make spears and to sew with ; needles made of the shin bones of kangaroos, with which they sew their cloaks, bags, &c...
Page 181 - Dialogue concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World, the Ptolemaic and the Copernican, which he dedicated to the Pope.
Page 183 - taking mathematicians from the beginning of the world to the time when Newton lived, what he had done was much the better half.
Page 141 - IN the days when Bootoolgah, the crane, married Goonur, the kangaroo rat, there was no fire in their country. They had to eat their food raw or just dry it in the sun. One day when Bootoolgah was rubbing two pieces of wood together, he saw a faint spark sent forth and then a slight smoke. "Look," he said to Goonur, "see what comes when I rub these pieces of wood together-smoke!
Page 145 - To produce it they take two pieces of dry soft wood, one is a stick about eight or nine inches long, the other piece is flat : The stick they shape into an obtuse point at one end, and pressing it upon the other, turn it nimbly by holding it between both their hands as we do a chocolate mill, often shifting their hands up, and then moving them down upon it, to increase the pressure as much as possible. By this method they get fire in less than two minutes, and from the smallest spark they increase...