Unkindelich he was transformed, That he which erst a man was formed, Into a woman was forshape, That was to him an angry jape.

To this ſpecies of cockle, or ſhirl, belong moſt of thoſe ſubſtances called imperfect aſbeſti; and as the cockle perfectly resembles a flag from an iron furnace, both in regard to its metallic contents, and its glaſſy texture, it is no wonder that it is not ſoft enough to be taken for an aſbeſtus. It has however, only for the ſake of its ſtructure, been ranked among the aſbeſti; and it is ſurpriſing, that the fibrous gypſum, from Andrarum, in the province of Skone, has eſcaped being on the ſame account confounded with them. The ſtriated cockle, or ſhirl, compared to the aſbeſti, is of a ſhining and angular ſurface (though this ſometimes requires the aid of the magnifying-glaſs to be diſcovered) always ſomewhat tranſparent, and is pretty eaſily brought to a glaſs with the blow-pipe, without being conſumed, as the pure aſbeſti ſeem to be.

He seems spooney on Queenie's grown-up daughter, who is as pretty as any china of Dresden or Sevres, but too delicate and gimcracky for my taste.

Edgar, riffing on the sound of the word ‘pelican’, jumps to an old nursery rhyme which starts with the word ‘Pillicock’. He omits the second line, favouring gibberish instead—or a hunting cry? The full couplet is: Pillicock sat on Pillicock-hill If he's not gone, he sits there still.