| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: ago from the top shelf in the library of the London Institution,
where gas is used, and the whole of the back fell off in my hands,
although the volume in other respects seemed quite uninjured.
Thousands more were in a similar plight.
As the paper of the volumes is uninjured, it might be objected that,
after all, gas is not so much the enemy of the book itself as of its covering;
but then, re-binding always leaves a book smaller, and often deprives
it of leaves at the beginning or end, which the binder's wisdom has
thought useless. Oh! the havoc I have seen committed by binders.
You may assume your most impressive aspect--you may write down your
instructions as if you were making your last will and testament--
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: found many beautiful fresh kinds; and, more strange still, that
some of these kinds were still alive at the bottom of the
Adriatic, and of the harbour of Alexandria, in Egypt.
Then in 1841 a gentleman named Edward Forbes,--now with God--whose
name will be for ever dear to all who love science, and honour
genius and virtue,-- found in the AEgean Sea "a bed of chalk," he
said, "full of Foraminifera, and shells of Pteropods," forming at
the bottom of the sea.
And what are Pteropods?
What you might call sea-moths (though they are not really moths),
which swim about on the surface of the water, while the right-
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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 The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: agitated vapor, as well as all terrestrial objects immediately
around us, were glowing in the unnatural light of a faintly
luminous and distinctly visible gaseous exhalation which hung
about and enshrouded the mansion.
"You must not--you shall not behold this!" said I,
shudderingly, to Usher, as I led him, with a gentle violence,
from the window to a seat. "These appearances, which bewilder
you, are merely electrical phenomena not uncommon--or it may be
that they have their ghastly origin in the rank miasma of the
tarn. Let us close this casement;--the air is chilling and
dangerous to your frame. Here is one of your favourite romances.
The Fall of the House of Usher |
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 The Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: judicial drama of a remarkable personage, who serves as a bond between
all the figures brought upon the scene of it, and who, by ways
familiar to Providence, was destined to lead Madame Graslin along a
path where her virtues were to shine with greater brilliancy as a
noble benefactress and an angelic Christian woman.
The episcopal palace at Limoges stands on a hill which slopes to the
banks of the Vienne; and its gardens, supported by strong walls topped
with a balustrade, descend to the river by terrace after terrace,
according to the natural lay of the land. The rise of this hill is
such that the suburb of Saint-Etienne on the opposite bank seems to
lie at the foot of the lower terrace. From there, according to the
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