cattered leaves will form lines and circles of dots or small leaves
and dust combined with stems, and groups of leaves in larger or smaller
patches: apparently in meaningless confusion.

Careful notice should now be taken of all the shapes and figures formed
inside the cup. These should be viewed front different positions, so
that their meaning becomes clear. It is not very easy at first to see
what the shapes really are, but after looking at them carefully they
become plainer. The different shapes and figures in the cup must be
taken together in a general reading. Bad indications will be balanced by
good ones; some good ones will be strengthened by others, and so on.

It is now the business of the seer--whether the consultant or some adept
to whom he has handed the cup to be read--to find some fairly close
resemblance between the groups formed by the leaves and various natural
or artificial objects. This part of the performance resembles the
looking for 'pictures in the fire' as practised by children in nurseries
and school-rooms and occasionally by people of a larger growth. Actual
representations of such things as trees, animals, birds, anchors,
crowns, coffins, flowers, and so forth may by the exercise of the
powers of observation and imagination be discerned, as well as squares,
triangles, and crosses. Each of these possesses, as a symbol, some
fortunate or unfortunate signification. Such signs may be either large
or small, and their relative importance must be judged according to
their size. Supposing the symbol observed should be that indicating
the receipt of a legacy, for instance: if small it would mean that
the inheritance would be but trifling, if large that it would be
substantial, while if leaves grouped to form a resemblance to a coronet
accompany the sign for a legacy, a title would probably descend upon
the consultant at the same time. The meaning of all the symbols of this
nature likely to be formed by the fortuitous arrangement of leaves in
a tea-cup is fully set forth in the concluding chapter; and it is
unnecessary therefore to enlarge upon this branch of the subject.

There are, however, several points of a more general character that must
be considered before it is possible to form an accurate judgment of
the fortune displayed. For instance, isolated leaves or groups of a
few leaves or stems frequently form letters of the alphabet or numbers.
These letters and numbers possess meanings which must