st
not be supposed, however, that the factors involved in this omen science
are always or even generally so simple. In most cases the connection
between the sign and the conclusion drawn, is not clear to us because of
the multiplicity of factors involved. Further publication and study of
omen texts will no doubt make some points clear which are now obscure,
but we cannot expect ever to find out all the factors that were taken
into account by the populace and the schoolmen, in proposing and
accepting certain interpretations of certain omens, any more than we can
fathom the reasons for the similar superstition found among other
nations[641] of antiquity and modern times. Recognizing certain
principles in some of the omens, we are justified in concluding that
whatever else determined the interpretation of omens, caprice did not
enter into consideration, but rather an association of ideas that
escapes us, simply because our logic differs from the logic of primitive
peoples in certain important particulars.

The list of peculiarities occurring in the case of babes continues as
follows:

If a woman gives birth to a child whose mouth is shaped like a
bird's, the country will be stirred up.

If a woman gives birth to a child without any mouth, the
mistress of the house will die.

If a woman gives birth to a child with the right nostril
lacking, misfortune is portending.

If a woman gives birth to a child with both nostrils lacking,
the land will witness distress, and disease will destroy the
house of the man.

If a woman gives birth to a child whose jaw is lacking, the days
of the ruler will be long, but the house of the man will be
destroyed.

If a woman gives birth to a child whose lower jaw is lacking,
the ground will not bear fruit during the year.

It will be observed that, while most of the portents are evil, the ruler
of the land is here generally vouchsafed immunity. The priests had to be
somewhat on their guard lest by the very terror that they aroused, the
hold of the rulers over the people might be loosened. Moreover, the
rulers were sufficiently hedged in by their positions, as we have seen,
and were in no danger of regarding themselves as safe from the anger of
the gods.

Still quite frequently even the king is involved in the evil prophecy.
The portion of the series dealing with portents derived from deformed
hands and feet contains instances of