| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: with the act of reproduction. The rule applies to males and females; but
as females more rarely offer remarkable secondary sexual characters, it
applies more rarely to them. The rule being so plainly applicable in the
case of secondary sexual characters, may be due to the great variability of
these characters, whether or not displayed in any unusual manner--of which
fact I think there can be little doubt. But that our rule is not confined
to secondary sexual characters is clearly shown in the case of
hermaphrodite cirripedes; and I may here add, that I particularly attended
to Mr. Waterhouse's remark, whilst investigating this Order, and I am fully
convinced that the rule almost invariably holds good with cirripedes. I
shall, in my future work, give a list of the more remarkable cases; I will
On the Origin of Species |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from In the South Seas by Robert Louis Stevenson: not exceed six hundred in the whole vale of Atuona; and yet, when I
once chanced to put the question, Brother Michel counted up ten
whom he knew to be sick beyond recovery. It was here, too, that I
could at last gratify my curiosity with the sight of a native house
in the very article of dissolution. It had fallen flat along the
paepae, its poles sprawling ungainly; the rains and the mites
contended against it; what remained seemed sound enough, but much
was gone already; and it was easy to see how the insects consumed
the walls as if they had been bread, and the air and the rain ate
into them like vitriol.
A little ahead of us, a young gentleman, very well tattooed, and
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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 An International Episode by Henry James: with an air of philosophic leisure, everyone was moving
to and fro and exchanging loud and familiar observations.
Eventually, at the instance of a discriminating black,
our young men went and had some "supper" in a wonderful
place arranged like a theater, where, in a gilded gallery,
upon which little boxes appeared to open, a large orchestra
was playing operatic selections, and, below, people were
handing about bills of fare, as if they had been programs.
All this was sufficiently curious; but the agreeable thing, later,
was to sit out on one of the great white decks of the steamer,
in the warm breezy darkness, and, in the vague starlight,
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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 In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield: hid her face in the pillow. "I was not in love. I wanted somebody to look
after me--and keep me until my work began to sell--and he kept bothers with
other men away. And what would have happened if he hadn't come along? I
would have spent my wretched little pittance, and then--Yes, that was what
decided me, thinking about that 'then.' He was the only solution. And I
believed in him then. I thought his work had only to be recognised once,
and he'd roll in wealth. I thought perhaps we might be poor for a month--
but he said, if only he could have me, the stimulus...Funny, if it wasn't
so damned tragic! Exactly the contrary has happened--he hasn't had a thing
published for months--neither have I--but then I didn't expect to. Yes,
the truth is, I'm hard and bitter, and I have neither faith nor love for
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