A mere index hunter, who held ...

A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail. Index-hunter is a term used mockingly, meaning one who acquires superficial knowledge merely by consulting indexes. The '[holding] the eel of science by the tail' allusion was used in 1728 by Alexander Pope (q.v.).
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 Tobias Smollett

Quotes from the same author

I find that the old Roman baths of this quarter, were found covered by an old burying ground, belonging to the Abbey; through which, in all probability, the water drains in its passage; so that as we drink the decoction of the living bodies at the Pump-room, we swallow the strainings of rotten bones and carcasses at the private bath - I vow to God, the very idea turns my stomach!
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 Tobias Smollett
Who bravely dares must sometimes risk a fall.
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 Tobias Smollett
Nature I'll court in her sequester'd haunts, By mountain, meadow, streamlet, grove, or cell; Where the pois'd lark his evening ditty chants, And health, and peace, and contemplation dwell.
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 Tobias Smollett
Some folks are wise and some are otherwise.
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 Tobias Smollett
Thy fatal shafts unerring move; I bow before thine altar, Love!
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 Tobias Smollett