| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: is charged with a slow-burning combustible, in the manner of the
ordinary rocket, whereby it is given a rapid rotary motion.
Furthermore it is stated to be fitted with a small gyroscope in
the manner of the torpedo used in the seas, for the purpose of
maintaining direction during flight, but upon this point there is
considerable divergence of opinion among technicians, the general
idea being that the torpedo depends upon an application of the
principle of the ordinary rocket rather than upon a small engine
such as is fitted to the ordinary torpedo. The employment of a
slow combustible ensures the maintenance of the missile in the
air for a period exceeding that of the ordinary shell. It is
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Redheaded Outfield by Zane Grey: had no concern for him. He pitched Lane a high
curve, over the plate, but in close, a ball meant
to be hit and a ball hard to hit safely. Lane knew
that as well as any hitter in the world, so he let
two of the curves go by--two strikes. Again the
Rube relentlessly gave him the same ball; and
Lane, hitting viciously, spitefully, because he did
not want to hit that kind of a ball, sent up a fly
that Rand easily captured.
``Oh, I don't know! Pretty fair, I guess!''
yelled a tenor-voiced fan; and he struck the key-
The Redheaded Outfield |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Madame Firmiani by Honore de Balzac: possesses a small estate in a certain department, the name of which he
has never been known to utter.
"Madame Firmiani? why, my dear fellow, she was Murat's former
mistress." This man belongs to the Contradictors,--persons who note
errata in memoirs, rectify dates, correct facts, bet a hundred to one,
and are certain about everything. You can easily detect them in some
gross blunder in the course of a single evening. They will tell you
they were in Paris at the time of Mallet's conspiracy, forgetting that
half an hour earlier they had described how they had crossed the
Beresina. Nearly all Contradictors are "chevaliers" of the Legion of
honor; they talk loudly, have retreating foreheads, and play high.
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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 The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: glow which had suffused her face in the Mission Garden
at St. Augustine. He became aware of the same
obscure effort in her, the same reaching out toward
something beyond the usual range of her vision.
"She hates Ellen," he thought, "and she's trying to
overcome the feeling, and to get me to help her to
overcome it."
The thought moved him, and for a moment he was
on the point of breaking the silence between them, and
throwing himself on her mercy.
"You understand, don't you," she went on, "why
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