| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Miracle Mongers and Their Methods by Harry Houdini: several wines, and several waters. He
learnt the rudiments of this art from
Bloise, an Italian, who not long before
was questioned by Cardinal Mazarin, who
threatened him with all the miseries that
a tedious imprisonment could bring upon
him, unless he would discover to him by
what art he did it. Bloise, startled at the
sentence, and fearing the event, made a
full confession on these terms, that the
Cardinal would communicate it to no one
Miracle Mongers and Their Methods |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: joined or almost joined, but one corner of the mouth is retracted
on the side towards the derided person; and this drawing back
of the corner is part of a true sneer. Although some persons
smile more on one side of their face than on the other,
it is not easy to understand why in cases of derision the smile,
if a real one, should so commonly be confined to one side.
I have also on these occasions noticed a slight twitching
of the muscle which draws up the outer part of the upper lip;
and this movement, if fully carried out, would have uncovered
the canine, and would have produced a true sneer.
[15] `Anatomy of Expression,' p. 136. Sir C. Bell calls (p. 131)
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
