Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

The following event, which occurred during the remarkably hard winter of 1708-9, is recorded on the most unquestionable authority. A poor woman in Somersetshire, England, having been to a neigh-boring village to sell her yarn, in her return home fell so very ill that she was forced to take refuge in a small house by […]

There are some things in this world which astonished me when I first opened my eyes upon it, and which I have never since been able to understand. One of these is the popular ridicule about the business of a tailor. The arts and crafts of all alike refer to one grand object, the convenience […]

The first manufactured paper of which we have any record, is the celebrated papyrus, made of a species of reed growing in Egypt on the banks of the Nile. According to a passage in Lucan, which is likewise corroborated by other authorities, this paper was first manufactured at Memphis, but it has been a matter […]

This fine little eagle appears to have escaped the notice of Le Vaillant, and of all the other writers on the ornithology of the neighborhood of the Cape of Good Hope. It is, however, as we learn from Dr. Smith, its first, and hitherto sole describer, found throughout the whole of South Africa. The length […]

The convent of the Great St. Bernard is situated near the top of the mountain known by that name, near one of the most dangerous passages of the Alps, between Switzerland and Savoy. In these regions the traveller is often overtaken by the most severe weather, even after days of cloudless beauty, when the glaciers […]

Haji Ben Hassuna, a chief of a party of the Bey’s (of Tripoli) troops, pursued by Arabs, lost his way, and was benighted near the enemy’s camp. Passing the door of a tent which was open, he stopped his horse and implored assistance, being exhausted with fatigue and thirst. The warlike Arab bid his enemy […]

In all ages and nations, the fables of AEsop have been resorted to for the instruction of young people, and have supplied matter for the wisdom of more advanced years. If the infant mind can be taught to abhor violence and injustice by the fable of the Wolf and the Lamb ; if the advantages […]

Muscat, the principal port on the eastern coast of Arabia, is under the government of an independent chief. The harbor, which lies in latitude 38′ north, and longitude 59° 1.5′ east, is formed by a small cove, or semicircular bay, environed on all sides, except at its entrance, by lofty, steep and barren rocks, and […]

There are but three animals of the horse. The horse, which is the most stately and courageous; the ass which is the most patient and humble; and the zebra, which is the most beautiful, but at the same time, the wildest animal in nature. Nothing can exceed the delicate regularity of this creature’s color, or […]

Many natives of Portugal yet remember the morning of the first of November, 1775. The day dawned clear and beautiful. The sun shone out in its full lustre; the whole face of the sky was perfectly serene, and no one conceived of the horrible contrast, which was soon after to present itself. The earth had […]