| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Timaeus by Plato: indissoluble by any power which does not reach the triangles, and even when
not strongly condensed is only resolved by fire. Compounds of earth and
water are unaffected by water while the water occupies the interstices in
them, but begin to liquefy when fire enters into the interstices of the
water. They are of two kinds, some of them, like glass, having more earth,
others, like wax, having more water in them.
Having considered objects of sense, we now pass on to sensation. But we
cannot explain sensation without explaining the nature of flesh and of the
mortal soul; and as we cannot treat of both together, in order that we may
proceed at once to the sensations we must assume the existence of body and
soul.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poems by Bronte Sisters: The following are some of the thoughts that now and then solace a
governess:--
LINES WRITTEN FROM HOME.
Though bleak these woods, and damp the ground,
With fallen leaves so thickly strewn,
And cold the wind that wanders round
With wild and melancholy moan;
There is a friendly roof I know,
Might shield me from the wintry blast;
There is a fire whose ruddy glow
Will cheer me for my wanderings past.
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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 Criminal Sociology by Enrico Ferri: of crime, 113--Economic remedies for crime, 114--Drink and crime,
116--Drunkenness an effect of bad social conditions, 120--Taxation
of drink, 120--Laws against
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drink, 121--Social amelioration a substitute for penal law, 121--
Social legislation and crime, 122--Political amelioration as a
preventive of crime, 124--Decentralisation a preventive, 126--
Legal and administrative preventives, 128--Prisoners' Aid
Societies, 130--Education and crime, 130--Popular entertainments
and crime, 131--Physical education as a remedy for crime, 131--To
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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 Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: fiction myself: fiction is too free. In biography you have your
little handful of facts, little bits of a puzzle, and you sit and
think, and fit 'em together this way and that, and get up and throw
'em down, and say damn, and go out for a walk. And it's real
soothing; and when done, gives an idea of finish to the writer that
is very peaceful. Of course, it's not really so finished as quite
a rotten novel; it always has and always must have the incurable
illogicalities of life about it, the fathoms of slack and the miles
of tedium. Still, that's where the fun comes in; and when you have
at last managed to shut up the castle spectre (dulness), the very
outside of his door looks beautiful by contrast. There are pages
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