the practice of which a technical education is required. Belief in
omens and other signs survives among the highest civilized peoples long
after the conceptions on which they rest have been abandoned. The origin
of signs among savage peoples may often be traced with more or less
probability; in the case of such as survive in periods of high culture
the origin is necessarily obscured by the lapse of time and can be
surmised only by comparison with earlier conceptions.

The belief in such signs may be traced over a great part of the world.
It is found among the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Hindus,
Chinese, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Arabians, and at a later time among
the Celtic, Slavic, and Teutonic peoples.[1601] At the present day it
occurs most highly developed in Polynesia, Northern Africa, Southern
India, and Central Asia; it is relatively unimportant in Western and
Central Africa, North America, South America, and Australia. One
difference between divination and magic thus appears to be that the
latter is vigorous in savage communities that pay little attention to
the former. Further collections of facts may require a modification of
this statement; but, in general, it would seem that an organization of
signs, demanding, as it does, orderly reflection on phenomena, is proper
to communities that have advanced beyond the hunting and nomadic stages.
For the rest, there are few objects or occurrences that have not been
regarded at some time by some people as indications of divine will in
respect to present, past, or future events.

+911+. A fair illustration of the early belief in omens is afforded by
the divinatory system that prevails in Samoa and the neighboring group
of islands.[1602] It appears that all omens are derived either from the
movements of animals that are regarded as incarnations of deities,[1603]
or from phenomena that are held to be produced immediately by deities.
The flight of owls, bats, or rails, according to its direction,
indicates the result of a battle or a war; the howling of a dog is a
sign of coming misfortune; if a centipede crawls on the top of a mat it
is a good omen, if on the bottom of a mat it is bad; it is unfortunate
when a lizard crosses one's path; if a basket be found turned upside
down in a road, this is a sign of evil; the way in which sacred stones
fall to the ground is an indication of the future. The animals mentioned
above (and there are many other such) are al