| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: already shown me. The next morning, I cut the telegraph-wire, this
time as long as one's arm and held, like yesterday, by one of the
hind-legs stretched outside the cabin. I then place on the web a
double prey, a Dragon-fly and a Locust. The latter kicks out with
his long, spurred shanks; the other flutters her wings. The web is
tossed about to such an extent that a number of leaves, just beside
the Epeira's nest, move, shaken by the threads of the framework
affixed to them.
And this vibration, though so close at hand, does not rouse the
Spider in the least, does not make her even turn round to enquire
what is going on. The moment that her signalling-thread ceases to
The Life of the Spider |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger: as a first result of mechanical industry, the appearance of great
centers of population, the so-called urban drift, and the evils of
overcrowding still remain insufficiently studied and stated. It is a
significant though neglected fact that when, after long agitation in
Great Britain, child labor was finally forbidden by law, the supply of
children dropped appreciably. No longer of economic value in the
factory, children were evidently a drug in the ``home.'' Yet it is
doubly significant that from this moment British labor began the long
unending task of self-organization.[1]
Nineteenth century economics had no method of studying the
interrelation of the biological factors with the industrial.
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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 Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson: I have long considered thy friendship as the greatest blessing of
my life. Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and
knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. I have
found in thee all the qualities requisite for trust - benevolence,
experience, and fortitude. I have long discharged an office which
I must soon quit at the call of Nature, and shall rejoice in the
hour of imbecility and pain to devolve it upon thee.'
"I thought myself honoured by this testimony, and protested that
whatever could conduce to his happiness would add likewise to mine.
"'Hear, Imlac, what thou wilt not without difficulty credit. I
have possessed for five years the regulation of the weather and the
|
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 Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: result in sudden death in this way. There would have to be a
long period of chronic symptoms which would at once have
attracted my attention. The whole thing is absurd."
"And the second suggestion? That Mrs. Inglethorp may have
inadvertently taken an overdose?"
"Three, or even four doses, would not have resulted in death.
Mrs. Inglethorp always had an extra large amount of medicine made
up at a time, as she dealt with Coot's, the Cash Chemists in
Tadminster. She would have had to take very nearly the whole
bottle to account for the amount of strychnine found at the
post-mortem."
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
