| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln: out her hand.
"I'll give it to her and this also," Barbara took the envelope and
a small ice pitcher and glass. "Good night, Grimes. Oh," she
stopped midway up the staircase and waited for the butler to
overtake her, "Grimes, to whom did you give the aconitine on Sunday?"
"I didn't give it to nobody, miss." The butler was a trifle short
of breath; his years did not permit him to keep pace with the twins.
"I was in a great hurry as the druggist kept me waiting, and I had
to serve tea at once."
"But what did you do with the aconitine pills?" demanded Barbara.
"I left the box on the hail table, miss -"
The Red Seal |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: laisse tomber son epee. Il n'ose pas le tuer. C'est un lache, cet
esclave! Il faut envoyer des soldats. [Elle voit le page
d'Herodias et s'adresse e lui.] Viens ici. Tu as ete l'ami de
celui qui est mort, n'est-ce pas? Eh bien, il n'y a pas eu assez de
morts. Dites aux soldats qu'ils descendent et m'apportent ce que je
demande, ce que le tetrarque m'a promis, ce qui m'appartient. [Le
page recule. Elle s'adresse aux soldais.] Venez ici, soldats.
Descendez dans cette citerne, et apportez-moi la tete de cet homme.
[Les soldats reculent.] Tetrarque, tetrarque, commandez e vos
soldats de m'apporter la tete d'Iokanaan. [Un grand bras noir, le
bras du bourreau, sort de la citerne apportant sur un bouclier
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: to bring the boat near the shore - we could see (when, our boat
mounting the waves, we were able to see the shore) a great many
people running along the strand to assist us when we should come
near; but we made but slow way towards the shore; nor were we able
to reach the shore till, being past the lighthouse at Winterton,
the shore falls off to the westward towards Cromer, and so the land
broke off a little the violence of the wind. Here we got in, and
though not without much difficulty, got all safe on shore, and
walked afterwards on foot to Yarmouth, where, as unfortunate men,
we were used with great humanity, as well by the magistrates of the
town, who assigned us good quarters, as by particular merchants and
Robinson Crusoe |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall: of the gas. But Faraday would never have been satisfied with a
deduction if he could have reduced it to a fact. And he has taught
me that the fact here is the direct reverse of what I supposed it to
be. The small bubbles are oxygen, and their smallness is due to the
perfect cleanness of the surface on which they are liberated.
The hydrogen adhering to the other electrode swells into large bubbles,
which rise in much slower succession; but when the current is reversed,
the hydrogen is liberated upon the cleansed wire, and then its bubbles
also become small.
Footnotes to Chapter 5
[1] Buff finds the quantity of electricity associated with one
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