| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ursula by Honore de Balzac: "I do not know," replied the doctor gravely, "whether your mother
would approve of your visits to an old man whose duty it is to care
for this dear child with all the solicitude of a mother."
This reserved answer made Savinien reflect, and he then remembered the
kisses so thoughtlessly wafted. Night came; the heat was great.
Savinien and the doctor went to sleep first. Ursula, whose head was
full of projects, did not succumb till midnight. She had taken off her
straw-bonnet, and her head, covered with a little embroidered cap,
dropped upon her uncle's shoulder. When they reached Bouron at dawn,
Savinien awoke. He then saw Ursula in the slight disarray naturally
caused by the jolting of the vehicle; her cap was rumpled and half
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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 Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton: because Paris was not Rome, nor because it was Paris; but
because hidden away somewhere in that vast unheeding labyrinth
was the half-forgotten part of himself that was Susy .... For
weeks, for months past, his mind had been saturated with Susy:
she had never seemed more insistently near him than as their
separation lengthened, and the chance of reunion became less
probable. It was as if a sickness long smouldering in him had
broken out and become acute, enveloping him in the Nessus-shirt
of his memories. There were moments when, to his memory, their
actual embraces seemed perfunctory, accidental, compared with
this deep deliberate imprint of her soul on his.
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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 Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: London; and whether you go to quod or not is a matter of
indifference to me.'
'Why, Johnny, we're in the same boat!' expostulated Morris.
'Are we?' cried his brother. 'I bet we're not! Have I committed
forgery? have I lied about Uncle Joseph? have I put idiotic
advertisements in the comic papers? have I smashed other people's
statues? I like your cheek, Morris Finsbury. No, I've let you run
my affairs too long; now they shall go to Michael. I like
Michael, anyway; and it's time I understood my situation.'
At this moment the brethren were interrupted by a ring at the
bell, and Morris, going timorously to the door, received from the
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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 Enemies of Books by William Blades: Parnell's Ode, 70.
Patent Office, destruction of literature at, 65.
Paternoster Row, io.
Paul, St., 6.
Pedlar buying old books, 54, 55.
Peignot and hookworms, 79.
Pepys (Samuel), his library, 128.
Petit (Pierre), poem on bookworm, 70.
Philadelphia, wormhole at, 92.
Phillipps (Sir Thos.), 129.
Pieces of silver or denarii, 5.
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