house and shewed itself friendly to any one,
it was a lucky omen for that person.

To meet a piebald horse was lucky. If two such horses were met apart,
the one after the other, and if then the person who met them were to
spit three times, and express any reasonable wish, it would be granted
within three days.

If a stray dog followed any person on the street, without having been
enticed, it was lucky, and success was certain to attend the errand on
which the person was engaged.

CHAPTER IX.

_SUPERSTITIONS CONCERNING PLANTS._

Superstitions connected with plants were more numerous than those
connected with animals. We have already noticed widespread prevalence of
tree worship in early times. The Bible is full of evidence bearing upon
this point, from the earliest period of Jewish history until the time of
the captivity. Even concerning those Kings of Judah and Israel who are
recorded to have walked in the ways of their father David, it is
frequently remarked of them that they did not remove or hew down the
_groves_, but permitted them to remain a snare to the people. In several
instances the word translated grove cannot properly be applicable to a
grove of trees, but must signify something much smaller, for it is in
these instances described as being located in the temple. It can
therefore refer only to a tree or stump of a tree, or it may be only the
symbol of a tree. The story of the tree of good and evil, and the tree
of life, has been the origin of many superstitious notions regarding
trees. The notion that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was an
apple tree, caused the apple to have a great many mystic meanings, and
gave it a prominent place in many legends, and also brought it into
prominence as a divining medium. In many parts of Scotland the apple was
believed to have great influence in love affairs. If an apple seed were
shot between the fingers it was understood that it would, by the
direction of its flight, indicate the direction from which that person's
future partner in life would come. If a couple took an apple on St.
John's eve and cut it in two, and if the seeds on each half were found
to be equal in number, this was a token that these two would be soon
united in marriage; or if the halves contained an unequal number of
seeds, the one who possessed the half with the greater number would be
married first. If a seed were cut in two, it denoted trouble to the
party holding the larger