"Ascertain" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... the Prime Minister, who is the principal head of the Government and royal cousin, to seat themselves near to his side on his bedstead where he lay, and other principals of royalty and nobility, to seat themselves in that room where he was lying, that they might be able to ascertain his speech by hearing. Then he delivered his family and followers and the whole of his property to His Majesty and His Excellency for protection and good decision, according to consequences which they ...
— The English Governess At The Siamese Court • Anna Harriette Leonowens
... reluctant to leave her in her swoon all untended, and yet conscious that it would be wiser to ascertain the extent of our damages. Happily the decision was not forced upon me, for I saw in the distance a swinging lantern, which seemed to be advancing towards me down the corridor. I shouted, and the dim figure behind it stopped and turned the light ...
— Hurricane Island • H. B. Marriott Watson
... passed it, I steered E. 1/2 S. for the Island of Tercera; and after having run thirteen leagues, we were not more than one league from the west end. I now edged away for the north side, with a view of ranging the coast to the eastern point, in order to ascertain the length of the island; but the weather coming on very thick and hazy, and night approaching, I gave up the design, and proceeded with all ...
— A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World Volume 2 • James Cook
... empires lay much that was worth gathering. No doubt the Serbs, whose land was not so much a thoroughfare, have in their veins some Illyrian and other, but on the whole much less non-Slav blood than the Bulgars; still, when we consider some subsequent invasions of Bulgaria, we must ascertain how far they spread. For example, the Kumani who arrived in the thirteenth century were, according to Leon Cahun,[13] Turks of the Kiptchak nation, speaking a pure Turkish dialect; they—that is to say, the Gagaous who are supposed to be their descendants—are now Christians, ...
— The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 1 • Henry Baerlein
... upon it, in proportion to their specific gravity; and that, although the water is so dense as to be favourable to swimmers, no security is found against the common accident of drowning. Josephus indeed asserts that Vespasian, in order to ascertain the fact now mentioned, commanded a number of his slaves to be bound hand and foot and thrown into the deepest part of the lake; and that, so far from any of them sinking, they all maintained their place on the surface until ...
— Palestine or the Holy Land - From the Earliest Period to the Present Time • Michael Russell
... that he should know something about the size of the island before deciding what next it was best to do, so he set out to explore its wooded portion and ascertain what the prospects were for living on it for ...
— Golden Days for Boys and Girls - Volume XIII, No. 51: November 12, 1892 • Various
... grand vizier, and Mesrour the chief of the eunuchs of his palace, all disguised in merchants' habits; and passing through the street where the three ladies dwelt, he heard the sound of music and fits of loud laughter; upon which he commanded the vizier, to knock, as he wished to enter to ascertain the reason. The vizier, in vain represented to him that the noise proceeded from some women who were merry-making, that without question their heads were warm with wine, and that it would not be proper he ...
— The Arabian Nights Entertainments vol. 1 • Anon.
... had had to live in a garret and cook his own food, Jacob went back to his old boarding-house, and paid four dollars a week. All his other expenses required at least eight dollars more to meet them. He was perfectly aware that he was living beyond his income—the exact excess he did not stop to ascertain—but he expected an increase of salary before long, as a matter of course, either in his present situation or in a new one. But no increase took place for two years, and then he was between three ...
— Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXII No. 4, April 1848 • Various
... would have won the battle of Chattanooga! I know not from which parent that young woman inherited her gift of strategy, but she was a master. To use the resources of one lover in order to ascertain if another lover had any; to lay tribute on everything that Charley possessed; on his influence in the business world, which enabled him to walk into the V-C Chemical Company's office and borrow an ...
— Lady Baltimore • Owen Wister
... ascertain which was the east and which was the west. They recalled that the head of their Department had once said to them, "If you want to know where the east is, then turn your face to the north, and the east will be on your right." ...
— Best Russian Short Stories • Various
... ever used an exclusively quinary system; and all that can be said of the influence of this mode of counting is that it gives rise to the habit of collecting objects in groups of five, rather than of ten, when any attempt is being made to ascertain their sum. In the case of the subsidiary base 12, for which the Teutonic races have always shown such a fondness, the dozen and gross of commerce, the divisions of English money, and of our common weights and measures ...
— The Number Concept - Its Origin and Development • Levi Leonard Conant
... sharp and unmistakable sound of gravel being flung against the window forced the young lady to go to ascertain ...
— Polly - A New-Fashioned Girl • L. T. Meade
... better the lot of the workers employed in them as have been made in those industries which are controlled by non-Jews. This charge, likewise, is wholly baseless, as anybody who desires to know the truth can readily ascertain. It was my good fortune and privilege, as one of the representatives of the public appointed by President Wilson, to serve as a member of the First Industrial Conference convoked by the President in October, 1919. Among the members of that Conference chosen to represent the public ...
— The Jew and American Ideals • John Spargo
... rate, to accompany her to the door of the house, and allowed their debate to prolong itself through the almost monastic quiet of the quarter which led thither. On the way, he succeeded in wresting from her the confession that, if it were possible to ascertain in advance that her husband's family would not oppose her action, she might decide to apply for a divorce. Short of a positive assurance on this point, she made it clear that she would never move in the matter; there must be no scandal, no retentissement, ...
— Madame de Treymes • Edith Wharton
... small: possibly only a pocket-handkerchief or a napkin; but it was held aloft as a flag unmistakably. A hundred conjectures were indulged in. Was it a summons to surrender? A request for an armistice for some purpose? Or was it a trick to ascertain their number and position? Some held one view, some another. Some extreme ones thought a shot ought to be fired over them to warn them not to come on; no flags of truce were wanted. The old Colonel, who had walked ...
— The Burial of the Guns • Thomas Nelson Page
... shows no signs of improving. Some say that it has become rather worse, in a subtle, secret way. More troops have marched in, masses of German troops and French infantry of the line, and columns of Russians are already moving out, bound for places no one can ascertain. Nothing but moving men ...
— Indiscreet Letters From Peking • B. L. Putman Weale
... that words coming from human mouths must follow the law of life: "when they are not gaining strength they are losing it." His business was not the vain folly of trying to bind the future in fetters: it was to record the present use and past history of words as accurately as he could ascertain them, and, by showing Englishmen what their heritage was and whence they had received it, to make them proud of its past and jealous of its future. The pedant wishes to apply a code of Median rigidity to correct the barbarous freedom of a language to which scholarship has never applied ...
— Dr. Johnson and His Circle • John Bailey
... observes, they were first drawn by two horses, and that it was the favourite Buckingham, who, about 1619, began to draw with six horses. About the same time, he introduced the sedan. 'The Ultimum Vale of John Carleton', 4to, 1663, p. 23, will, in a great measure, ascertain the time of the introduction of glass coaches. He says, "I could wish her (i. e. Mary Carleton's) coach (which she said my lord Taff bought for her in England, and sent it over to her, made of the new fashion, wide glasse, very stately; and her pages and lacquies ...
— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre
... to tell thee that the day is lost. I go with our father and the men to save our mother and the other women, or to die. Thou wilt stay here with a few men to guard the ships, and be ready to cast off at a moment's notice. If we return not before night, do thou creep out and try to ascertain what has become of us, and if ye have reason to think we are killed, cut Kettle's bonds and let him do what he will, poor fellow. At present his head has got a knock that renders him a dangerous comrade, so he must remain tied. Of course, if the cave is attacked thou wilt set him ...
— Erling the Bold • R.M. Ballantyne
... captain down the companion-way to the passenger in the cabin. Beside the pleasure of seeing a ship and human beings in so desolate a place, it was important for us to speak a vessel, to learn whether there was ice to the eastward, and to ascertain the longitude; for we had no chronometer, and had been drifting about so long that we had nearly lost our reckoning; and opportunities for lunar observations are not frequent or sure in such a place as Cape Horn. For these various reasons the excitement in our little community ...
— Two Years Before the Mast • Richard Henry Dana
... nothing about it, said Fulbert, not choosing to see the hand held out to him. 'I should be ashamed!—May I go now, Sir?' to Mr. Audley; and with an odd sort of circular bow, he made his escape, and Mr. Audley, having remained long enough to ascertain that the worst that could be said of him was that he was a cub, and that it was a terrible thing to see so many great hulking lads growing up under no control, took his leave, and presently came on the three boys again, consulting at the ironmonger's window ...
— The Pillars of the House, V1 • Charlotte M. Yonge
... Reed endeavoured to effect a negotiation with the British Commissioners, and actually commenced it, to ascertain what he might expect, in money and office, in case he succeeded in effecting a reconciliation between the colonies and the mother country, or in other words, that he would be instrumental in causing the revolted colonies to return to their ...
— Nuts for Future Historians to Crack • Various
... in every way," he said. "The woman was leading a perfectly respectable married life; she was hard-working and industrious, and beyond the fact that she was over-indulgent to her children, does not seem to have had any serious faults. As far as I can ascertain ...
— Animal Ghosts - Or, Animal Hauntings and the Hereafter • Elliott O'Donnell
... experiments requisite, must have retarded the publication of this book for many years. This is a vast field for employing the zeal and abilities of young chemists, whom I would advise to endeavour rather to do well than to do much, and to ascertain, in the first place, the composition of the acids, before entering upon that of the neutral salts. Every edifice which is intended to resist the ravages of time should be built upon a sure foundation; and, in the present state of chemistry, to attempt discoveries by experiments, either ...
— Elements of Chemistry, - In a New Systematic Order, Containing all the Modern Discoveries • Antoine Lavoisier
... position of diversity of origin, have been comparing the Septuagint with some passages from the Talmud. I heard you say that there was a Rabbinical Targum in the library at Le Bocage, and I must beg you to examine it for me, and ascertain whether it contains any comments on the first chapter of Genesis. Somewhere in my most desultory reading I have seen it stated that in some of those early Targums was the declaration, that 'God originally created men red, white and black.' Mr. Hammond ...
— St. Elmo • Augusta J. Evans
... push his outposts as far as Rivolta on his left, and still farther forward on his front towards Curtalone. Although the distance from Rivolta to Goito is only five miles, Angioletti, I have been told, could not ascertain whether the Austrians had crossed ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... Cambridge, issued an edition of the 'Poetical Works' of Goldsmith. The distinctive feature of this lay in the fact that it was illustrated by a number of aquatints 'by Mr. Alkin' (i.e. Samuel Alken), after drawings made by Newell in 1806-9, and was accompanied by a series of 'Remarks, attempting to ascertain, chiefly from local observation, the actual scene of 'The Deserted Village'.' Some quotations from these 'Remarks' have already been made in the foregoing notes; but as copies of six of the drawings are given in this volume, it may be well, ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith • Oliver Goldsmith
... her brother, not worth a straw, And her mother, that would be his, in law; So, undecided, he walked along, And Kate was left alone in the throng. But a lawyer smiled, whom he sought by stealth, To ascertain old Ketchem's wealth; And as for Kate, she schemed and planned Till one of the dancers ...
— Poems Teachers Ask For • Various
... Mr. Sabin said, "to be a person with some powers of observation. It would pay you very well indeed if you would ascertain from any of your mates at the Waldorf when and with whom the lady in question left ...
— The Yellow Crayon • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... to all who intend to emigrate, that they should—before taking a step involving so great an outlay, and the breaking-up of their life here—submit themselves to an ordeal of six or twelve months, in order to ascertain whether, in truth, their bodies and minds are fitted for the situation they are entering upon. Let any gentleman who is thinking of settling in Canada or Australia, take a labourer's cottage in a distant county—a few ...
— Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 426 - Volume 17, New Series, February 28, 1852 • Various
... sum total, and the division, ascertain the service of the three great baronies at 100 knights each; and the text of the Assises, which extends the number to 500, can only be justified ...
— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 5 • Edward Gibbon
... 12th, I ascertain that you desire some Hungarian horses on which to meet my hussars and pandours. I learned with much pleasure, in the last campaign, that the Prussian Trenck was a brave soldier; as a proof of my consideration, ...
— Berlin and Sans-Souci • Louise Muhlbach
... a clear and forcible display of the reasonableness and certainty of our faith in Jesus Christ as the author of immortality to man, that we ascertain the proper ground on which the modern skeptic, of whatever creed, stands when he avows his opposition to the gospel. That we may duly estimate the strength of his opposition, we must not only enumerate his objections or arguments, but we must exactly ascertain ...
— The Christian Foundation, May, 1880
... has been thrown across a considerable valley, but even against this mound there is no appearance of even a small pool of water having collected after the heaviest rains. The water all percolates straight downwards. Ascertain average depth of wells, inclination of strata, and springs. Does the water from this country crop out in springs in Holmsdale or in the valley of the Thames? Examine the ...
— More Letters of Charles Darwin - Volume I (of II) • Charles Darwin
... me that the conditions of success vary sufficiently among these societies to make their histories at least interesting, and perhaps important. I was curious, too, to ascertain if their success depended upon obscure conditions, not generally attainable, as extraordinary ability in a leader; or undesirable, as religious fanaticism or an unnatural relation of the sexes; or whether it might not appear that the conditions absolutely necessary to success ...
— The Communistic Societies of the United States • Charles Nordhoff
... of the past claimed with one voice to have a hidden side, to be custodians of "Mysteries," and that this claim was endorsed by the seeking of initiation by the greatest men, we must now ascertain whether Christianity stands outside this circle of religions, and alone is without a Gnosis, offering to the world only a simple faith and not a profound knowledge. Were it so, it would indeed be a sad and lamentable fact, proving Christianity to be intended for a class ...
— Esoteric Christianity, or The Lesser Mysteries • Annie Besant
... was not Indian warfare but civil strife. One morning as many as three Daniel Boones appeared on the playground at the same moment; and at once there was a dreadful fight to ascertain which was the genuine Daniel. This being decided, the spurious Daniels submitted to be: the one, Simon Kenton; the other, ...
— The Choir Invisible • James Lane Allen
... confirmed him in the belief that Madeleine was in Paris, and that he would shortly find her there; that he would meet her by some fortunate chance; would be drawn to her by some mysterious magnetic instinct. Every few days he visited the bureau des passeports, to ascertain whether her passport had been presented to ...
— Fairy Fingers - A Novel • Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie
... Neu Brisach were now invested by the Germans and, after waiting for a few days, to ascertain the course that they were likely to take, Major Tempe determined (as General Cambriels was forming an army, down by Besancon) to defend the upper passes of the Vosges and—as it was rumored that a second ...
— The Young Franc Tireurs - And Their Adventures in the Franco-Prussian War • G. A. Henty
... motion, as we know them, are differently conditioned manifestations of force." "If, to use an algebraic illustration, we represent Matter, Motion, and Force, by the symbols x, y, z; then we may ascertain the values of x and y in terms of z, but the value of z can never be found; z is the unknown quantity, which must forever remain unknown, for the obvious reason that there is nothing in which its value can be ...
— What is Darwinism? • Charles Hodge
... This was valuable information which she could scarcely have expected to obtain so easily. There was more that she desired to ascertain, but she had no intention of ...
— Vane of the Timberlands • Harold Bindloss
... sun-beplastered roads Has lost shoe-leather by whole loads,— Has seen the heavens lie open wide, And hell has traversed with whole hide. The thought has just occurred to me That one so skilled as he must be May tell us how our flax and wheat arise. What say you?—Shall I try to ascertain? ...
— The Works of Frederich Schiller in English • Frederich Schiller
... and bred and have died in Benares. Vedic, Moslem, Buddhist, Brahmin have been nursed and flourished and have decayed within the same walls. It is impossible to ascertain when the Ganges was first worshiped, or when people began to build temples upon its banks, or when Benares first became sacred. Water was one of the first objects worshiped; the fertilizing and life giving influence of a stream was one of the first phenomena of nature recognized. Ganga, the ...
— Modern India • William Eleroy Curtis
... stabbed him in three places with their poniards, and would have despatched him on the spot, had not the king, with his usual presence of mind, commanded them to desist, and take the man alive, that they might ascertain the real authors of the conspiracy. This was done accordingly, and Ferdinand, fainting with loss of blood, was carefully removed to his apartments in ...
— The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella The Catholic, V2 • William H. Prescott
... spend a whole evening on a wager as to whether the first edition of Dr. Johnson's 'Dictionary' was quarto or folio. The confident assertions, the cautious ventures, the length of time demanded to ascertain the fact, the precise terms of the forfeit, the provisoes for getting out of paying it at last, led to a long and inextricable discussion. Kirkpatrick's vanity, however, one night led him into a terrible pitfall. He recklessly ...
— Old and New London - Volume I • Walter Thornbury
... teeth of all the Rabbinical and Cabbalistic fancies of Jewish commentators, and with reverential deference to modern criticism on the Hebrew Bible, it is not so. R. D. Kimchi, in his endeavour to ascertain the shades of difference existing between the terms used in the Mosaic cosmogony, has assumed that our Hebrew verb bara has the full signification of ex nihilo creavit. Our own Castell, a profound and self-denying scholar has entertained ...
— Chips From A German Workshop - Volume I - Essays on the Science of Religion • Friedrich Max Mueller
... the use, and the abuse, of reason; which so variously shapes, and so artificially composes, the manners and opinions of a European, or a Chinese. But the operation of instinct is more sure and simple than that of reason: it is much easier to ascertain the appetites of a quadruped than the speculations of a philosopher; and the savage tribes of mankind, as they approach nearer to the condition of animals, preserve a stronger resemblance to themselves ...
— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 2 • Edward Gibbon
... the dismal little figure with a twinkling eye. Already he had been introduced to three separate Betty Trevors, and it would be interesting to ascertain which of the various representations approached nearest to the reality. Judging from Miss Betty's conversation this afternoon, Christmas would appear to be her bete noire throughout the year, and she could see no bright spot in the horizon. The presents ...
— Betty Trevor • Mrs. G. de Horne Vaizey
... to be interested in the reports published by school and health boards, for, with few exceptions, little effort is made to write these reports so that they will interest the parent. Fortunately, a small number of persons wishing to be intelligent can compel public officials to ascertain the necessary facts and to give them to the public. So backward is the reporting of public business that at the present time there is probably no service that a citizen can render his community which would prove of greater importance than to secure proper publicity ...
— Civics and Health • William H. Allen
... adj.; stick fast; stand firm, keep firm, remain firm; weather the storm, stay the course, stick to the course, keep the faith, don't give in, don't buckle under. settle, establish, stablish[obs3], ascertain, fix, set, stabilitate[obs3]; retain, keep hold; make good, make sure; fasten &c. (join) 43; set on its legs, float; perpetuate. settle down; strike roots, put down roots, take root; take up one's abode &c. 184; build one's house on a rock. Adj. unchangeable, ...
— Roget's Thesaurus
... them to make a rate was rejected, and a warrant ordered to be forthwith issued for a special meeting of the inhabitants, to examine into all the circumstances connected with the settlement of Mr. Parris, and to ascertain whether the meetings which had acted therein were legally called, and by what means the right and title of the parish to its ministry house and lands had been brought into question. This was pressing matters to an issue. Mr. Parris saw it, and determined to meet it in advance. He ...
— Salem Witchcraft, Volumes I and II • Charles Upham
... the sole purpose of stimulating those who may have been for years "pulling hard against the stream," unable, perhaps, to ascertain where they properly belong, and possibly on the verge of giving up all hope, because of failure, after making repeated honest efforts ...
— Twenty Years of Hus'ling • J. P. Johnston
... your sudden flight, Miss POTTS," said the latter, "that she came at once to me and OLDY with your farewell note, and would not stop saying 'Did you ever!' until, to restrain my aggravated mother from fits, I promised to follow you to your guardian's and ascertain what your good-bye note would have meant if it had actually ...
— Punchinello Vol. 2, No. 28, October 8, 1870 • Various
... caused by an invitation on the part of the Government to settle upon lands apparently public, but to which no right or lawful possession can be secured, it would be better, rather than to attempt a disturbance of titles already settled, to ascertain such losses and do equity by compensating the proper parties through ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 3 (of 3) of Volume 8: Grover Cleveland, First Term. • Grover Cleveland
... want to test a young man and ascertain whether nature made him for a king or a subject, give him a thousand dollars and see what he will do with it. If he is born to conquer and command, he will put it quietly away till he is ready to use it as opportunity offers. If he is born ...
— How to Succeed - or, Stepping-Stones to Fame and Fortune • Orison Swett Marden
... already, that they were living in the shadow of a great disaster, and that Campbell's fate was in doubt, one must feel that in a way they had the hardest time of all in the Expedition. They had to sit down, as it were, and wait in uncertainty for the winter to pass, then go out in search to ascertain the fate of their leader, and ...
— South with Scott • Edward R. G. R. Evans
... accuracy of report even on trivial occasions; and so rigid were the rules of honesty by which he endeavoured to bring up his family, that if one of them had chanced to find in the lanes or fields anything of the least use or value without being able to ascertain to whom it belonged, he always insisted upon the child's carrying it back to the place from which it ...
— The Prose Works of William Wordsworth • William Wordsworth
... attempt to determine the chronology of Shakespeare's plays was made in Malone's "Attempt to ascertain the order in which the plays attributed to Shakespeare were written," published in Steevens's edition of 1778. His final conclusions on the subject are to be found in the preliminary volumes of the 1821 Variorum. Since then, discussions of chronology and development have appeared ...
— The Facts About Shakespeare • William Allan Nielson
... rat (Dipodomys ordii), hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) and black-tailed jack rabbit (Lepus californicus). Tracks and other sign of the coyote (Canis latrans) were seen. So far as we could ascertain, by our own investigations and from our Mexican hosts at the fishing camp, no other kinds of native mammals lived on the island. The ground squirrel and kangaroo rat were found by us on only the sandy areas where there were xerophitic shrubs. The cotton rat was found only in the grass. ...
— Mammals Obtained by Dr. Curt von Wedel from the Barrier Beach of Tamaulipas, Mexico • E. Raymond Hall
... this super-naturalness. You will look vainly through the summer fields for such a child. "Nor up the lawn, nor by the wood," is she. Whence do you think this marvelous charm has come? Alas! if we knew, would not we all be Gainsboroughs? This only you may practically ascertain, as surely as that a flower will die if you cut its root away, that you cannot alter a single touch in Gainsborough's work without injury to the whole. Half a dozen spots, more or less, in the printed gowns of these other children whom I first showed you, will not make ...
— Ariadne Florentina - Six Lectures on Wood and Metal Engraving • John Ruskin
... they broke up, Magdalen had a quiet time with Lady Merrifield, in which she was able, not without a tell-tale blush even at her years, to ascertain that there were two Henry Merrifields, and that, alas! there was nothing good known of the son of Stokesley, except that anonymous attempt at restitution which gave hopes ...
— Modern Broods • Charlotte Mary Yonge
... what has my cousin done that she should be dragged before the courts of law?" I asked, pretending ignorance of the real nature of the summons and hoping to ascertain whether the king knew ...
— The Touchstone of Fortune • Charles Major
... took a hopeful view of their prospects. "To get a firm footing," they say, "among a people of a strange speech and a hard language; to inspire confidence in some, and weaken prejudice in others; to ascertain who are our avowed enemies, and who are such in disguise; to become acquainted with the mode of thinking and feeling, with the springs of action, and with the way of access to the heart; to begin publicly to discuss controversial subjects with the dignitaries ...
— History Of The Missions Of The American Board Of Commissioners For Foreign Missions To The Oriental Churches, Volume I. • Rufus Anderson
... terminated the war, was so far favourable to the Romans that it at least restored the -status quo- of the regal period; the Etruscans gave up Fidenae and the district won by them on the right bank of the Tiber. We cannot ascertain how far this Romano-Etruscan war was connected directly with the war between the Hellenes and the Persians, and with that between the Sicilians and Carthaginians; but whether the Romans were or were not allies of the victors of Salamis and of Himera, there was at any rate a coincidence ...
— The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5) • Theodor Mommsen
... the aerial war were no doubt determined by attempts to realise the old naval maxim, to ascertain the position of the enemy's fleet and to destroy it. There was first the battle of the Bernese Oberland, in which the Italian and French navigables in their flank raid upon the Franconian Park were assailed by the Swiss experimental squadron, supported as the day wore on ...
— The War in the Air • Herbert George Wells
... boat varies continually during a prolonged voyage. Food is devoured and the diving material of the machinery is consumed. The water in which the boat swims continually changes weight and the boat is imperceptibly raised or lowered in a way very difficult to ascertain. The officer responsible for the flooding of the submarine must painstakingly keep its weight under control during the entire navigation. The weight of a meal eaten by each man of the crew, the remains of the food and the boxes in which ...
— The Journal of Submarine Commander von Forstner • Georg-Guenther von Forstner
... wall, I ascertained, by excavating its whole length, was690 feet long. The length of the west side I could only trace as far as 272 feet, its continuance being hiddenbeneath the houses of Kouklia. The length of the other two sides I was unable to ascertain for similarreasons. The walls of the temple itself, made of the kind of stone previously mentioned, but not in such huge blocks, I was able to trace correctly, bydint of patience; and though very little is seen above ground, ...
— Cyprus, as I Saw it in 1879 • Sir Samuel W. Baker
... down by assuming average conditions of weather, using the fairly well-known enemy force that would appear in practice, and playing games in which the only important variable is the kind of vessel in question. For instance, in the endeavor to ascertain the value of the battle cruiser, games can be played in which battle cruisers are only on one side, or in which they are more numerous, or faster or more powerful on one side than on the other. Naturally, the games cannot ...
— The Navy as a Fighting Machine • Bradley A. Fiske
... told himself that it behoved him to see the doctor, and ascertain from him whether Mrs. ...
— Studies in love and in terror • Marie Belloc Lowndes
... need to the unhappy Dauphiness at once, as the only vent to her own misery, and because she must without loss of time do something for the succour of her young sisters, or ascertain their fate. ...
— Two Penniless Princesses • Charlotte M. Yonge
... for an explanation. While their glances hitherto have been straying far forward, he has been giving his habitually to the ground more immediately under his horse's head, and to both sides of the broad trail; his object being to ascertain if among the many tracks of the Indians' horses, those of Francesca's pony are still to ...
— Gaspar the Gaucho - A Story of the Gran Chaco • Mayne Reid
... it was desirable that the laws should be obeyed at all times and in all places,' it was necessary in the next place to ascertain whether it was not a part of our law that such ...
— The Uncollected Writings of Thomas de Quincey—Vol. 1 - With a Preface and Annotations by James Hogg • Thomas de Quincey
... But whether great or small, it is hardly conceivable that it should exist without exerting a reaction upon the original inducing current, and producing equilibrium of some kind. It might be anticipated that this would give rise to a retardation of the original current; but I have not been able to ascertain that this is the case. Neither have I in any other way as yet been able to distinguish effects ...
— Experimental Researches in Electricity, Volume 1 • Michael Faraday
... forms at least, there might be many that would be disposed to practise them. For these are virtues which do undoubtedly commend themselves to our minds as things clearly good: so much so that I am inclined to think that the much-disputed moral sense, the nature of which is said to be so hard to ascertain, exists most clearly in the universal perception that it is good to deny ourselves and to benefit others. I do not say merely that there is a perception that it is good to deny ourselves in order to benefit others; but that there is in self-denial, simply, ...
— The Christian Life - Its Course, Its Hindrances, And Its Helps • Thomas Arnold
... Syndicus told the woman the while what her impudent rogue of a husband had done, that she might let him hear more of it. Then he sent the woman away again and came back to my daughter, saying that he had forgotten to ascertain whether she really knew the Latin tongue, and that she was to say her defensio over again in Latin, if she was able. Hereupon she began and went on therewith for a quarter of an hour or more, in such wise that not only Dom. Syndicus but I myself also was amazed, ...
— The Amber Witch • Wilhelm Meinhold
... cross-questioned me at full length, but my answers were clear and firm. My countenance was unabashed, and appeared to preclude all suspicion, and he granted my passport. Yet, at all events, I thought it prudent to ascertain whether I was watched, and to my great surprise I found that during two days I was closely followed. I did not give any token by which my spy could ascertain that I was aware of his company, and, in order to mislead him, I went to the messageries, where ...
— Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I • Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon
... as you know, is used to ascertain the depth of the water and, when necessary, the character of the bottom. There are two kinds of leads: the hand lead and deep-sea lead. The first weighs from 7 to 14 pounds and has markings to 25 fathoms. The second weighs from 30 to 100 pounds and is used in depths ...
— Lectures in Navigation • Ernest Gallaudet Draper
... induced Lord Thurlow to break off so suddenly his negotiation with the Prince's party, and declare himself with such vehemence on the side of the King and Mr. Pitt, it does not appear very easy to ascertain. Possibly, from his opportunities of visiting the Royal Patient, he had been led to conceive sufficient hopes of recovery, to incline the balance of his speculation that way; or, perhaps, in the influence of Lord Loughborough ...
— Memoirs of the Life of Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Vol 2 • Thomas Moore
... Judge Baker. He's a plebeian from his thick shoe soles to his thin hair; but he's honest. And yet—if he had been less ponderously precise—he might have said: "Why, really, I don't exactly know. Mr. Winship is a well-to-do man. It has been years since I knew, but I can ascertain and—" ...
— The Bacillus of Beauty - A Romance of To-day • Harriet Stark
... entire length of the river, on both sides, we had to wade through deep marshes, and at last crossed it through a swift current, the water reaching to our waists. A dense fog obscured the sun and hid the bay from view. It was impossible to ascertain our direction, and we were compelled to follow all the windings of the river and coast until the fog lifted. In the meantime we had no idea where the sled was, and as Toolooah had been told that we would make our usual ten miles' ...
— Schwatka's Search • William H. Gilder
... that is so falling, and is, besides, deprived of consciousness! Beholding thee in the path of the celestials, possessed of energy like that of Sakra, or Surya, or Vishnu, we have approached thee to ascertain the truth. If thou hast first asked us who we were, we would never have been guilty of the incivility of asking thee first. We now ask thee who thou art and why thou approachest hither. Let thy fears be dispelled; let thy woes and afflictions cease. Thou art now in the presence of the virtuous ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli
... my card up and ascertain if I can see Mr. Leslie Guest?" I asked. "He is staying somewhere in the ...
— The Great Secret • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... the letter to Hetty soon absorbed Adam's thoughts. Arthur had procured some relief to himself by throwing the decision on Adam with a warning; and Adam, who was not given to hesitation, hesitated here. He determined to feel his way—to ascertain as well as he could what was Hetty's state of mind before he ...
— Adam Bede • George Eliot
... the entertainment of guests, especially on fair and market days, when space is precious. There was a table with a bench for the use of drinkers. There were, moreover, three beds, but I was careful to ascertain that none would be occupied except by myself. I would sooner have slept on a bundle of hay in the loft than have had an unknown person snoring in the same room with me. One has always some prejudice to overcome. The bed was not soft, and ...
— Two Summers in Guyenne • Edward Harrison Barker
... notice, of this bill of fare with the price annexed to each article, is, that, when you have made up your mind as to what you wish to have for dinner, you have it in your power, before you give the order, to ascertain the expense. But, though you see the price of each dish, you see not the dish itself; and when it comes on the table, you may, perhaps, be astonished to find that a pompous, big-sounding name sometimes produces only a scrap of scarcely three ...
— Paris As It Was and As It Is • Francis W. Blagdon
... for attack, but his order of battle was best: he drew up his army in four lines, thus rendering useless a great part of his troops, and when he at length resolved to alter his dispositions for a more extended order of battle, he did not reconnoitre the ground to ascertain if it would permit such an extension of front. His left wing therefore was unable to deploy, and remained formed in columns of attack, while the enemy's artillery committed dreadful havoc on their profound masses. He ...
— Sketches • Benjamin Disraeli
... is at once relieved of all power and responsibility, and his influence is at an end. If he is married his wife and children pass from under his control,—whether, however, through his wish or theirs, or by the orders of the council, I could not ascertain. They certainly become no more to him than other women and children of the pueblo." Hammond examined one of these men, who had, as he himself informed him, formerly possessed a large penis and testicles "grande como huevos,"—as large as eggs. ...
— History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present - Moral and Physical Reasons for its Performance • Peter Charles Remondino
... below the station, and Colin was told to go down and make a report on it as soon as he had finished his afternoon's work. Accordingly, after supper, he took a small power-boat and ran downstream, taking with him a very sensitive pair of scales to determine the exact weight of the pearl, calipers to ascertain its size, and other instruments especially designed by Dr. Edelstein. At the same time, he was ordered to secure the shell from which the pearl had been taken, ...
— The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries • Francis Rolt-Wheeler
... Frank, "very true. You want your neighbours' opinions. I do not wonder at you. If one could ascertain what the chief of them—the Coles, for instance. They are not far off. Shall I call upon them? Or Miss Bates? She is still nearer.—And I do not know whether Miss Bates is not as likely to understand the inclinations of the rest of the people as any body. I think we do ...
— Persuasion • Jane Austen
... as you perceive, than to distinguish an artery from a vein; you have only to ascertain what is inside of it. When the blood goes out to our organs to nourish them, it is arterial; when it is returning back after having nourished them, it has become venous. But what—you will ask—is it going to do now at ...
— The History of a Mouthful of Bread - And its effect on the organization of men and animals • Jean Mace
... of any solid starting point on which an argument can be based; in the absence of any reliable figures; in the absence of any way to interpret the figures; in the absence of any way to ascertain the indirect results of judicial killings, even if the direct ones could be shown; in the impossibility through life, experience or philosophy of fixing relative values, the question must remain where it ...
— Crime: Its Cause and Treatment • Clarence Darrow
... saw that many persons knew me, and I wished to ascertain whether you were among their number, and how you and ...
— Cruel As The Grave • Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth
... If one examine heraldry, he will find traces of heathen mythology and superstition; if he look at the most famous of Great Britain's public buildings, he will see emblems of the ridiculous; if he glance at the Calendar, he will ascertain that months and days have been named after, or mentioned in connection with, mythological beings or objects of profane adoration; and if he read the pages of the greatest authors, he will discover much that ...
— The Mysteries of All Nations • James Grant
... brutish among the people who assert the latter, to the enjoyment of their folly, let us ascertain what we can know of the great Creator of the heavens and the earth. God refers the atheists of the Psalmist's days to their own bodies for proofs of his intelligence, to their own minds for proofs of his personality, and to their own observation of the judgments of his providence ...
— Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith - Being an Examination of the Evidences of Infidelity • Robert Patterson
... letters professed to have been sent in a parcel to him to be posted from the office. If it had been so, Edward and Lucy would certainly have written to us at the same time. I could have shown, too, that Maddox had written to me the day before to ascertain where Edward was, so as to be sure of the date. It was a little country village, and I made a blunder in copying the spelling from Lucy's writing. Ailie found that very blunder repeated in Dr. Long's letter, ...
— The Clever Woman of the Family • Charlotte M. Yonge
... the author of "Kilmeny." He will do solid work, conjure up a concert of aerial music, play a shrewd trick now and then, and all this with a curious air of irresponsibility and of remoteness of nature. In ancient days when kings played experiments to ascertain the universal or original language, some monarch might have been tempted to take a very clever child, interest him so far as possible in nothing but books and opium, and see whether he would turn out anything like De Quincey. But it is in the highest degree improbable ...
— Essays in English Literature, 1780-1860 • George Saintsbury
... light which excited his suspicions, and gave them orders to creep as near to it as they could, taking care not to lose each other's support, and to be ready to rush in at the same moment, when he should give the sign, which was to be a loud whistle. Anxious to ascertain the truth with his own eyes, Cromwell, who had by instinct all the habits of military foresight, which, in others, are the result of professional education and long experience, advanced upon the object of his ...
— Woodstock; or, The Cavalier • Sir Walter Scott
... was passing the railroad depot, I saw a large number of colored people gathered round one of the cars, and, from manifestations of grief among some of them, I was induced to draw near and ascertain the cause of it. I found in the car towards which they were so eagerly gazing about fifty colored people, some of whom were nearly as white as myself. A majority of them were of the number who attempted to gain their liberty last ...
— Personal Memoir Of Daniel Drayton - For Four Years And Four Months A Prisoner (For Charity's Sake) In Washington Jail • Daniel Drayton
... enough, I thank you, monsieur," she answered, with a sigh. "I must ask you kindly to ascertain for me also the ...
— Charlotte's Inheritance • M. E. Braddon
... had always been poor old Madam's champion since his coming among them. He had taken pains to ascertain the facts from the oldest Ledger's old wife, and when first he heard her tell how she had opened her door at dawn to let in her husband, during the great gale that was rocking the orchard trees and filling the air with whirls of blossom, that came down like ...
— Fated to Be Free • Jean Ingelow
... that it reminds him of an incident in one of Mrs. Steel's novels,' said Armour, just turning his head to ascertain His ...
— The Pool in the Desert • Sara Jeannette Duncan
... returned with tidings that it was very heavy and close, consisting chiefly of large fields. The ships, however, moved something, and the ice itself was drifting westward. There was a thick fog, so that it was impossible to ascertain what advantage had been gained. It continued on the 9th; but the ships were moved a little through some very small openings: the mist cleared off in the afternoon, and it was then perceived that they had driven ...
— The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson • Robert Southey
... fanaticism and enthusiasm, are private interpretations equally as, if not more than, Mr. Birch's. They are so; but the difference between us is, that without reference to either term, I have attempted to ascertain the existence and diversity of two states of moral being; and then having found in our language two words of very fluctuating and indeterminate use, indeed, but the one word more frequently bordering on the one state, the other on the other, I try to fix each to that state ...
— Literary Remains, Vol. 2 • Coleridge
... the history of her life, skilfully mingling the false with the true, and representing herself as an unfortunate victim of circumstances, and the inhuman cruelty of relatives. For she belonged, like her husband, to a very respectable family, as the Maumejans might easily ascertain by inquiry. Vantrasson's sister was the wife of a man named Greloux, who had once been a bookbinder in the Rue Saint-Denis, but who had now retired from business with a competency. "Why had this Greloux refused to save them from bankruptcy? ...
— Baron Trigault's Vengeance - Volume 2 (of 2) • Emile Gaboriau
... who has made a new discovery or invention can ascertain, free of charge, whether a patent can probably be obtained, by writing ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 312, December 24, 1881 • Various
... may remember, too, that in Virgil's poem almost the first light in which the pious AEneas appears to us is a deer-stealer; nor is it much excuse for him that the deer were wandering without keepers, for however he might, from this circumstance, have been unable to ascertain whose property they were, he might, I think, have been pretty well assured that they were ...
— English Satires • Various
... called "Ty" because the early spelling of the name was Tyconderoga. Built 1755-56 by the French, taken 1759 by the British, under Amherst. Three weeks before the battle of Lexington, an agent of Massachusetts was sent to ascertain the feelings of the people of Canada. His first advice was that "Ty" should be seized ...
— Burgoyne's Invasion of 1777 - With an outline sketch of the American Invasion of Canada, 1775-76. • Samuel Adams Drake
... the same one which the Author mentions in his narrative, to which Rogers and himself crept so silently and carefully at night to ascertain whether the occupants were friends or foes. They were much pleased to find it was Capt. Doty of the Jayhawkers and his mess who had remained behind to dry the flesh of an ox they had killed when ...
— Death Valley in '49 • William Lewis Manly
... of the day. The voice of our vigilant cock roused me at daybreak, and I awoke my wife, that in the quiet interval while yet our children slept, we might take counsel together on our situation and prospects. It was plain to both of us that we should ascertain if possible the fate of our late companions, and then examine into the nature and resources of the country ...
— Journeys Through Bookland V3 • Charles H. Sylvester
... only it be portable, can with safety be left unguarded in any apartment accessible to them. The contents of ladies' work-boxes, kid gloves, and pocket handkerchiefs vanish instantly if exposed near a window or open door. They open paper parcels to ascertain the contents; they will undo the knot on a napkin if it encloses anything eatable, and I have known a crow to extract the peg which fastened the lid of a basket in order to plunder ...
— Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon • J. Emerson Tennent
... I spoke with Sir John Nicholas, who tells me that Mr. Coventry is come from Bredah, as was expected; but, contrary to expectation, brings with him two or three articles which do not please the King: as, to retrench the Act of Navigation, and then to ascertain what are contraband goods; and then that those exiled persons, who are or shall take refuge in their country, may be secure from any further prosecution. Whether these will be enough to break the peace upon, or no, he cannot tell; but I perceive the certainty of peace is blown over. So ...
— Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete • Samuel Pepys
... duty of every father of a family to question and examine his children and servants at least once a week and to ascertain what they know of it, or are learning and, if they do not know it, to keep them faithfully at it. For I well remember the time, indeed, even now it is a daily occurrence that one finds rude, old persons who knew nothing and still know nothing of these ...
— The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther
... sounding-board—a thin, clear sheet of spruce under the strings—is the piano's soul, wanting which, it were a dead thing. Almost every resonant substance in nature has been tried for sounding-boards, but nothing has been found equal to spruce. Countless experiments have been made with a view to ascertain precisely the best way of shaping, arranging, and fixing the sounding-board, the best thickness, the best number and direction of the supporting ribs; and every great maker is happy in the conviction that he is a little better in sounding-boards than any of his rivals. ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 117, July, 1867. • Various
... perfectly well that (on one occasion in particular) after hearing thy animated praises of Milton and Thomson I attempted to bring a few words to rhyme and measure; but whether it was poetry run mad, or, as Burns says, 'something that was rightly neither,' I cannot now ascertain; I am certain, however, that it was in a great measure owing to thy admiration of those poets that I ventured on that path which their memory has hallowed, in pursuit of—I myself hardly know what—time alone ...
— Whittier-land - A Handbook of North Essex • Samuel T. Pickard
... the height of several hundred feet, Frank headed toward Bloomsbury. Like a true and alert pilot he was watching and listening to ascertain how their recent work held; and presently a satisfied expression crossing his face announced that he found ...
— The Aeroplane Boys Flight - A Hydroplane Roundup • John Luther Langworthy
... and enjoyed the ride, although more than once he found himself glancing at his wrist-watch to ascertain how far away five o'clock might yet be. Lambing time was at hand, and through home field after home field he rode with his host, now one and now the other dismounting to turn over onto its feet rotund and glorious Shropshire and Ramboullet-Merino ewes so hopelessly the product of man's selection ...
— The Little Lady of the Big House • Jack London
... persons who suffer from this disease of the will, which deprives them of the ability of discussing things, may be compared to runners who have neglected to ascertain the limits of ...
— Poise: How to Attain It • D. Starke
... does not sound like truth. If I spent my last shilling in sifting the matter to the bottom, I would go on with it. Though I were obliged to leave England for twelve months myself, I would do it. A man is bound to ascertain his ...
— Is He Popenjoy? • Anthony Trollope
... synthesis. Two steps are necessary to ascertain the exact composition of water by synthesis: (1) to show by qualitative synthesis that water is formed by the union of oxygen with hydrogen; (2) to determine by quantitative synthesis in what proportion ...
— An Elementary Study of Chemistry • William McPherson
... table, and four glasses were filled. The whole party had an air of Bohemian ease and jollity. They were talking together, and I could see Sacovitch pacing the room with great vehemence of gesture; but though I could hear the deep murmur of his voice, and could even ascertain that he was speaking in English with a foreign accent, I could not succeed, strain my ears as I might, in making out the burden of a consecutive sentence. Hinge was crouching at my side, his shoulder touching ...
— In Direst Peril • David Christie Murray
... was my companion for a time. He and I were making explorations on the island on which we were wrecked, and when the two undertook to go on a search, to ascertain what the island was like, I was too ill to go with them. Walter returned, and told me of meeting with a band of savages on the western side of the mountain, and of the capture of Clifford by ...
— The Wonder Island Boys: Treasures of the Island • Roger Thompson Finlay
... Morgan glanced into the sink, to ascertain if, as often happens, the murderer had washed his hands there. There was a reddish stain about the outlet, but as Morgan found this covered with dust he surmised that a long time had elapsed since any water had been run in the sink. This stain was presumably ...
— The Sheridan Road Mystery • Paul Thorne |
