Catechism of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology. 7th Edition.
[28] Elements of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology, 4th Edition, p. 239.
[29] Yet we are sometimes led to doubt if our author be really so kind-hearted as he would have us to believe. The following passage, for example, would lead us to believe that he is really savage at heart, and that his humanity is little better than affectation. The contrast between the two passages which we have put in italics is very amusing. He is speaking of the weeding of pigeons.
"Every bird that is caught should be examined and recognized and every one exhibiting signs of old age should be destroyed, by pushing the joint of the thumb with force into the back of the head, and severing the cervical vertebræ, or applying the teeth for that purpose; but should these modes be disliked or impracticable, rather than torture the poor devoted animals by abortive attempts, let their heads be cut off at once by a sharp table-knife."—(Vol. ii. p. 253.)
[30] Diaries and Correspondence of James Harris, First Earl of Malmesbury. Edited by his Grandson, the Third Earl, Vols. 3 and 4, London: 1844.
[31] Barrancas are those immense clefts or ravines, some of them several thousand feet deep, which abound upon the plateau, or table-land, on which the city of Mexico stands.
[32] Orizava—in Mexican, Citlatepetl, or the Star Mountain.
[33] The Mexican wolf.
[34] A proverbial expression amongst the Indians, signifying something inimical or prejudicial; the day of ill luck.
[35] Bixa Orellana—a species of dye-wood. String is made out of the bark. The wood takes fire easily upon friction.