such a misfortune as would be caused by adverse stars, and comes from
the Greek word for star, _astron_, and the Latin _dis_.

The words _jovial_ and _mercurial_, used to describe people of merry
and lively temper, are metaphors of the same kind. A person born under
the planet Jupiter (the star called after the Roman god Jupiter or
Jove) was supposed to be of a merry disposition, and a person born
when the planet Mercury was visible in the heavens was expected to be
lively and ready-witted. When we use these words now to describe
people, we do not, of course, mean that they were born under any
particular star, but the words are metaphors which literally do mean
this.

The word _auspicious_ comes from a similar source. We speak of an
"inauspicious" undertaking, meaning one which seems destined to be
unlucky. But really what the word _inauspicious_ says is that the
"auspices are against" the undertaking. And this takes us back to
Roman times, when no important thing was done in the state without the
magistrates "taking the auspices." This they did from observing the
flight of certain birds. In war the commander-in-chief of the Roman
armies alone had the right to "take the auspices." We should think
such a proceeding very foolish now, but in the words _auspicious_ and
_inauspicious_ we are literally saying that the auspices have been
favourable or unfavourable.

One of the common practices of the scholars who studied astrology and
other sciences in the Middle Ages was the search for the philosopher's
stone, which they believed had the power of giving eternal youth. They
would melt metals in pots for this purpose. These pots were called by
the Old Latin name of _test_. From this word we now have the modern
word _test_, used in the sense of _trial_--another metaphor from the
Middle Ages.

Many common English words are really metaphors made from old English
sports, such as hunting and hawking. It is curious to think how these
words are chiefly used to-day by people who know nothing of these
pastimes, while the people who made the words were so familiar with
them that they naturally expressed themselves in this way. We speak of
a person being in another's "toils," when we mean in his "power." The
word _toils_ comes from the French _toiles_, meaning "cloths," and
also used for the nets put round part of a wood, in which birds are
being preserved for shooting, to prevent their escaping. The
expression to "turn" or be "at