The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Cavalry General by Xenophon: [18] Lit. "if they mount."
[19] Like that of Pheidippides in the play; see Aristoph. "Clouds," 23
foll. And for the price of horses, ranging from 3 minas (= L12
circa) for a common horse, or 12 minas (say L50) for a good saddle
or race-horse, up to the extravagant sum of 13 talents (say 3000
guineas) given for "Bucephalus," see Boeckh, "P. E. A." (Eng. tr.)
p. 74. Cf. Isaeus, 55. 22; 88. 17; Lys. "de Maled." 133. 10; Aul.
Gell. "Noct. Att." v. 2.
To come to the existing body of knights,[20] it would tend,[21] I
think, to better rearing and more careful treatment of their horses if
the senate issued a formal notice that for the future twice the amount
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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 Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: just as a naval vessel parries the ramming tactics of an enemy by
sinking the latter before she reaches her target, while if it did
crash into the hull of the dirigible, tearing it to shreds,
firing its gas, or destroying its equilibrium, both protagonists
would perish in the fatal dive to earth. For this reason ramming
in mid-air is not likely to be essayed except when the situation
is desperate.
What happens when two aeroplanes meet in dire combat in mid-air
and one is vanquished? Does the unfortunate vessel drop to earth
like a stone, or does it descend steadily and reach the ground
uninjured? So far as actual experience has proved, either one of
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