| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall: of litmus paper and a piece of turmeric paper in a solution of
sulphate of soda: placing each of them upon a separate plate of
glass, he connected them together by means of a string moistened
with the same solution. He then attached one of them to the
positive conductor of an electric machine, and the other to the
gas-pipes of this building. These he called his 'discharging train.'
On turning the machine the electricity passed from paper to paper
through the string, which might be varied in length from a few
inches to seventy feet without changing the result. The first paper
was reddened, declaring the presence of sulphuric acid; the second
was browned, declaring the presence of the alkali soda.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: sterling!
Various gentlemen of such literary reputation that any one might
think it an honour to be associated with them had been announced
as contributors to this Annual, before application was made to me
to assist in it; and I accordingly placed with much pleasure at
the Editor's disposal a few fragments, originally designed to
have been worked into the Chronicles of the Canongate, besides a
manuscript drama, the long-neglected performance of my youthful
days--"The House of Aspen."
The Keepsake for 1828 included, however, only three of these
little prose tales, of which the first in order was that entitled
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