slippery clay, marshy land; the work of the book
an atmospheric something pneumatic
the different forms of the febrile state,
the work of the book an atmospheric
“something” which, independent of local conditions,
affects all classes ₁
that slimy, slippery clay that made steering a pneumatic
something on the order of trick riding.
Wheeling through Europe is not all poetry. ₂
scarcely more than guess work.
For instance, the then ubiquitous malarial fever was due to a miasm; that is,
an atmospheric something arising from marshy land ₃
an atmospheric something foster[ing] vague speculation and hypotheses ₄
an atmospheric something that creates ideas here, as it does in Paris. ₅
An atmospheric something is lost in transplanting. ₆
But I’m glad you did.
There’s an atmospheric something there that is worth preserving. ₇
an atmospheric something
an experiment in a weird book ₈
so in the end will it be with human speech —
there will no longer be someone speaking but an objective reflection,
an atmospheric something, an abstract sound
that will render human speech redundant, just ₉
a pneumatic something confirmed the place was open ₁₀
sources
- ...It is eminently a book of value to the English practitioner, as far as typhus fever is concerned, but as the types presented form the basis of all heads under which are to be classed the different forms of the febrile state, the worth of the book is enhanced by the careful study of Dr. Stokes’s great experience.
It is one which, in our opinion, is more suited for the perusal of the practitioners than of the students of medicine: the latter would scarcely find that succinctness of description, and positiveness in regard to treatment, which would guide him, a pioneer, at the bedside; while the former would be struck with the originality and care of the observer, who relates without preconceived opinion the points which have led him to treat rationally what he has himself seen.
The chapter on contagion in typhus is striking. Dr. Stokes, with Graves, is not an out-and-out believer in the theory of crowd-poisoning and filth as a generator of the widespread epidemics of typhus which appear in Ireland, but admits, after careful consideration, an atmospheric “something” which, independent of local conditions, affects all classes.
The lecture on heart complication is an exceedingly good one...ex review of William Stokes, M.D., Lectures on Fever (John William Moore, ed., 1876, in American Supplement to the The Obstetrical Journal of Great Britain and Ireland vol. 4 (Philadelphia; August 1876) : 78 : link
- We were now off the national highways on an unfrequented mountain road, with sloppy mud, and occasionally we rode through small ponds of water. The mud was of that slimy, slippery clay that made steering a pneumatic something on the order of trick riding. After twenty-five miles of this we halted for dinner, as bedraggled and mud-covered lot of cyclists as you ever saw, especially those who left their mud guards at home. You could see nothing of them but a ball of mud with a face sticking out. We soon resumed our journey, bound to make Chamounix that night, and there were no railroads — only stage coaches. As we moved on the highway improved, at least it was not so treacherous for our pneumatics (80 per cent. of the party rode them, and not a single puncture or any trouble up to date.)
But now as the road improved a new obstacle was presented. As we neared St. Gervais, the scene of the awful avalanche, all traces of the road were gone, and a sea of mud, rocks, houses uprooted, trees and all kinds of debris were in our path. That was an awful mile we went through, having to carry our wheels on our shoulders part of the way. Searchers were still at work looking for dead bodies, and in one house we passed they were piled up like cord wood, and no telling how many more were buried in that awful stretch of mud and slime. We finally struck the road again, a winding one up the mountain, which most of us walked, some eight miles or more, and finally arrived at our hotel, at the foot of Mount Blanc, a sorry looking lot of cyclists, more dead than alive. As I said before, wheeling through Europe is not all poetry...“Three Days with the Elwell Tourists in Switzerland” (No. 4; by “Ruggles”), The Bicycling World and L. A. W. Bulletin (2 September 1892) : 1574 : link
- There was no exact knowledge whatever of the causative factors of infective disease until about 1880, and prior to that time opinions expressed upon this fundamentally important subject were scarcely more than guess work. For instance, the then ubiquitous malarial fever was due to a miasm; that is, an atmospheric something arising from marshy land. Writing in 1858, Dr. James Pickford gives it as one of the functions of atmospheric ozone to “decompose or destroy malaria given off from the earth surface.” He further states that the noxious vapors of night air render “sleeping with open windows particularly dangerous." That opinion, very generally held at the time may in part explain what was meant by a subsequent writer who gives as the reason for the delicious purity of country air “that country people always sleep with their windows closed.”
A. C. Abbott, “The Conservation of the Public Health,” in University Lectures Delivered by Members of the Faculty in the Free Public Lecture Course, 1913-1914 (1915) : 464-486 (468) : link
- ...Such was the teaching of the Greek physicians. Part of it was of great value, viz., the emphasis put upon individual predisposition and habit in modifying the corporeal response to infection; we have seen that an adequate theory of influenza must take full note of this. On the other hand, although an enthusiastic Galenist might make out a case for regarding the Pergamite as a pioneer of the bacteriological school with his seeds of pestilence, there can be little doubt that he had nothing of the sort in mind and even less that the notion of putrefaction due to an atmospheric something fostered vague speculation and hypotheses which discouraged useful experimental and observational research.
“The Weather and Epidemic Disease, with Particular Reference to Influenza,” being Chapter 7 in Report on the Pandemic of Influenza, 1918-1919, Part I. Influenza in Great Britain and Ireland. (Ministry of Health; London, 1920) : : 150-163 (153) : link
- Style features are of prime importance to all articles pertaining to the wearing apparel lines, and it is on that score that San Francisco depends. The season opens earlier on the Pacific Coast than elsewhere, and for that reason our merchants must be awake to coming events and be able to anticipate the fancies of the trade ahead of other markets. There is an atmospheric something that creates ideas here, as it does in Paris. Each season brings forth new ideas and a profusion of fast sellers. Our markets are no longer confined to the Pacific Slope — many of our creations are nationally recognized and are sold from Maine to California.
from Chapter 44, “Finance, Trade, Industry,” in Bailey Millard ()“in collaboration with able assistants”) Vol 1. History of the San Francisco Bay Region : History and Biography (1924) : 412 : link
- An atmospheric something is lost in transplanting the Redman’s dances from their native setting to the modern stage. The dances in this book are therefore described for the outdoor dancing arena or council ring, the nearest approximation to their original setting...
Bernard S. Mason (1896-1953), Dances and Stories of the American Indian (1944) : 11 : link
three of four copies removed at archive.org; the fourth : link - I didn’t suppose you’d put Lindsay in — but I’m glad you did. There’s an atmospheric something there that is worth preserving.
ex AFBH, to Frederick J. Turner (Nov. 20th, 1914), regarding her inclusion of a volume by Vachel Lindsay with other volumes sent to him, in Ray Allen Billington, ed., “Dear Lady” : The Letters of Frederick Jackson Turner and Alice Forbes Perkins Hooper, 1919-1932 (The Huntington Library, 1970) : 169 : link
borrowable at archive.org : link - “I’m confused. Where the heck are we?” asked Perry agitated.
“If what we saw two nights ago is true, we are on a different planet,” said Nathan.
“You said it was an atmospheric something,” whispered Perry.
“Phenomena, I thought.”
“This can’t be.” Melissa’s head buzzed.
“I’m afraid it is,” said Nathan.
“But how did we get here?”
“Flew?” Perry wondered.
Nathan looked as if he didn’t know what to say.ex DG Sandru, The Lorn Tree : Arboregal (Chivileri Publishing, 2011) : 211 : link
“An experiment in a weird book causes four young Americans, Nathan, Perry, Melissa, and Michelle to appear in an incredibly strange and desolate world. Trees as large as mountains, scattered across the land like oases, support all life, safe from the monsters that patrol the night fog on the ground. Races of people living in medieval societies populate the giant trees. Known as the Lorns in this particular tree, they welcome the four kids into their world until...”
- Anonymity has, in our time, a far more pregnant significance than is perhaps realized; it has almost epigrammatic significance. Not only do people write anonymously, they write anonymously in their own name, indeed, speak anonymously.
...And just as the public is a pure abstraction, so in the end will it be with human speech — there will no longer be someone speaking but an objective reflection will gradually impart an atmospheric something, an abstract sound that will render human speech redundant, just as machines make workers redundant. In Germany there are even manuals for lovers, so it will probably end with lovers sitting and speaking anonymously to each other.ex Søren Kierkegaard, A Literary Review (of Two Ages, a novel by the author of A Story of Everyday Life, published by J. L Heiberg, Copenhagen, Reitzel, 1845); (1846; Alastair Hannay, trans., 2001) : 93 : link
- ...The occasional screeching of a pneumatic something confirmed the place was open for business. I waited for the tool to fire up again before checking the knob. It was unlocked. Slowly opening the door, I peeked my head inside.
The inside of the shop was much cleaner than I thought it would be.Trace Conger, Mirage Man (Black Mill Books, 2021) : 32 : link
amazon page (with good reviews) : link“A Connor Harding Thriller / An ex-mob fixer with a price on his head must return to his New York City stomping ground to find out who wants him dead and cancel the contract before someone else cancels him. ¶ A vigilante justice crime thriller.”
on the above —
The preceding — a something of antecedents; a real sketch, this time / 2798 — needed a coda, and so the above.