CHAPTER IV

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PORTENTS OR OMENS, AUGURIES, LUCKY NUMBERS, AND DREAMS.

Upsetting the Oil Jar—Crows, Magpies and Ducks—Dogs and Cats—Crowing Hens—Swallows—Owls—Setting an Even Number of Eggs—Superstitions as to Mirrors—Crooked Paths—Eclipses, Comets, and Stars—Bells—Drawing Water at Certain Hours on a given Date—Omens of Personal Sensation, Itching, Shivering, Sneezing &c.—A Shaky Finger—Trousers—Sitting in a Warm Chair—Meeting a Funeral or Coffin—People with Joined Eyebrows—Itching of the Palm and Specks on the Nails—The First Words heard after making a Resolution—Casting Lots—Lucky Numbers, 3, 5, and 7—Numerical Categories—Even Numbers, Lucky—Chinese beliefs as to Dreams—Comparison of Chinese and Japanese Superstitions as to Dreams, pp. 33–45.

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