| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin: of the Echis,--and the dilatation of the hood of the Cobra,--
all subserve the same end, namely, to make them appear terrible
to their enemies.[28]
[24] Mr. J. Mansel Weale, `Nature,' April 27, 1871, p. 508.
[25] `Journal of Researches during the Voyage of the "Beagle,"
' 1845, p. 96. I have compared the rattling thus produced
with that of the Rattle-snake.
[26] See the account by Dr. Anderson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871, p. 196.
[27] The `American Naturalist,' Jan. 1872, p. 32. I regret that I cannot
follow Prof. Shaler in believing that the rattle has been developed,
by the aid of natural selection, for the sake of producing sounds which
Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Why, we can see each other again!" cried one, joyfully.
"Yes," sighed Eureka; "and I also can see you again, and the sight
makes me dreadfully hungry. Please, Mr. Wizard, may I eat just one of
the fat little piglets? You'd never miss ONE of them, I'm sure!"
"What a horrid, savage beast!" exclaimed a piglet; "and after we've
been such good friends, too, and played with one another!"
"When I'm not hungry, I love to play with you all," said the kitten,
demurely; "but when my stomach is empty it seems that nothing would
fill it so nicely as a fat piglet."
"And we trusted you so!" said another of the nine, reproachfully.
"And thought you were respectable!" said another.
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: to me," and the rest of the psalm.
Then said Ioasaph to the king, "To honour one's father, and to
obey his commands, and to serve him with good will and affection
is taught us by the Lord of us all, who hath implanted in our
hearts this natural affection. But, when loving devotion to our
parents bringeth our soul into peril, and separateth her from her
Maker, then we are commanded, at all costs, to cut it out, and,
on no account, to yield to them that would depart us from God,
but to hate and avoid them, even if it be our father that issueth
the abominable command, or our mother, or our king, or the master
of our very life. Wherefore it is impossible for me, out of
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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 A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde: Mrs. Arbuthnot. Do you think, Caroline, that Lord Illingworth is
interested in the Housing of the Poor?
LADY CAROLINE. I should fancy not at all, Jane.
LADY HUNSTANTON. We all have our different tastes, have we not?
But Lord Illingworth has a very high position, and there is nothing
he couldn't get if he chose to ask for it. Of course, he is
comparatively a young man still, and he has only come to his title
within - how long exactly is it, Caroline, since Lord Illingworth
succeeded?
LADY CAROLINE. About four years, I think, Jane. I know it was the
same year in which my brother had his last exposure in the evening
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