Assyriens_ II 203-969 to be referred to hereafter as Jastrow _Religion_.
See also various special articles by the writer such as "Signs and Names
for the Liver in Babylonian" (Zeitschr. f. Assyr. XX 105-129). "The Liver
in Antiquity and the Beginnings of Anatomy" (Trans. of the College of
Physicians of Phila. XXIX 117-138). "The Liver in Babylonian Divination"
(Proc. of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Soc. of Phila. XXV 23-30). "The
Liver as the Seat of the Soul" (Studies in the History of Religions
presented to C. H. Toy 143-169). "Sign and Name for Planet in Babylonian"
(Proc. Amer. Philos. Society XLVII 141-156). "Hepatoscopy and Astrology in
Babylonia and Assyria" (ib. XLVII 646-676). "Sun and Saturn" (Revue
d'Assyriologie VII No. 2), and the general survey in the author's _Aspects
of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_ (N. Y. 1911),
Chapter III and IV.
[2] The field of divination was gradually extended so that practically
every unusual occurrence or every occurrence that even aroused attention
was regarded as an omen. Among these miscellaneous classes of omens we may
distinguish as distinct subdivisions (a) dreams, (b) phenomena connected
with rivers and canals, (c) movements of animals--chiefly serpents, dogs,
sheep and certain birds like ravens and falcons; also mice and rats, and
various insects as roaches and locusts, (d) phenomena in houses and
temples, including probably (as in Leviticus, Chap. 14) suspicious looking
marks or spots, (e) peculiarities and diseases of any portion of the human
frame. No doubt the list can be still further extended.
[3] See Hepatoscopy and Astrology in Babylonia and Assyria (Proc. Amer.
Philos. Society XLVII 646 sq.)
[4] The Greek and Roman method of sending out birds and noting their
flight is another example of voluntary divination, and so is the ancient
Arabic method of selecting arrows, writing certain words on them, throwing
them before the image or symbol of a deity and as they fell, reading the
oracle sent by the deity.
[5] See the details in the writer's 'The Liver as the Seat of the Soul'.
(Toy Anniversary volume 143-168.)
[6] See Jastrow, _Religion_ II 120 sq. and "The Liver as the Seat of the
Soul" (Toy Anniversary volume) 158-165.
[7] See Cumont, _Fatalisme Astrale et Religions Antiques_ (Revue
d'Histoire et de Littérature Religieuse 1912); also the same author's
_Astrology and Religion among the Greeks and Romans_ (N. Y. 1912).
[8] Bezold and Boll, _Reflexe astrologischer Keilinschriften bei
griechischen Schriftstellern_ (Heidelberg Akad. d. Wiss. 1911); see also
Cumont, _Babylon und die griechische Astronomie_ (Neue Jahrbücher f. das
klass. Altertum XXVIII Abt. I. 1-10).
[9] See Jastrow, _Religion_ II 745 sq. and Boll, _Der ostasiatische
Tierzyklus im Hellenismus_ (Leiden 1912). I hope to treat this phase of
the subject more fully in a special article. See for the present the
summary of my paper on this subject in the Actes du IV{ère} Congrès
International d'Histoire des Religions (Leiden 1913) 106-111 and Records
of the Past (Washington) Vol. XII (1913) 12-16.
[10] See Hartland, _Primitive Paternity_--especially the summary in Chap.
VII, and also Frazer, _Totemism and Exogamy_ I 93 seq.; 191 seq. etc.
[11] See Ploß-Bartels, _Das Weib_ (2{d} ed.) Chap. XXXII; _Das Kind_ Chap.
III, VIII, IX and Van Gennep, _Rites de Passage_ Chap. V.
[12] Part XXVII and Part XXVIII Pl. 1-42 of _Cuneiform Texts from
Babylonian Tablets etc. in the British Museum_, are taken up with texts of
this character.
[13] Parts XX, XXX and XXXI and Pl. 1-42 of Part XXVIII represent the bulk
of this section of the Library so far as recovered by Layard, Rassam and
George Smith. Previous to the British Museum publication, Alfred Boissier
had published three volumes of divination texts of all kinds under the
title of _Documents Assyriens relatifs aux Présages_ (Paris 1894-99) and
in his _Choix de Textes relatifs a la Divination Assyro-Babylonienne_
(Paris 1905-06).
[14] The chief publications of astrological texts is by Ch. Virolleaud
under the title _L'Astrologie Chaldéenne_ (Paris 1903-13), consisting up
to the present of four parts and two supplements containing texts, and
four parts with two supplements containing the transliteration of these
texts. Besides this publication, M. Virolleaud has published numerous
fragments of texts in the periodical _Babyloniaca_, founded and edited by
him. Cun. Texts, Part XXX Pl. 43-50 also contains astrological texts; Part
XXXIII Pl. 1-12 are aids to astrology.
[15] Chiefly by Boissier in the two works mentioned in note 2 on p. 6.
[16] Copious specimens of liver divinations texts in German translation
with comments will be found in the author's _Religion Babyloniens und
Assyriens_ II 227-412; of Astrological Texts _ib_ II 458-740; Oil and
Water, Divination _ib_ II 749-775; of Animal omens _ib_ II 775-826; of
Birth omens _ib_ II 837-941 and a summary view of the miscellaneous omens
_ib_ II 946-969.
[17] The same is the case with the collections of liver signs and to a
large extent also in the case of the astrological collections.
[18] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 24 Cases of more than three births at one time
are extremely rare. A case of quintuplets in Groningen in the year 1897 is
vouched for by Prof. Döderlein of Munich and one was reported in the
newspapers recently as occurring in the United States. A case of
sextuplets is noted by Vasalli in the Boll. Med. della Svizzera Italiana,
1894, Nos. 3 and 4. This seems to be the highest mark, though Pliny, Hist.
Nat. VII 3, on the authority of Trogus records that a woman in Egypt gave
birth to seven infants at one time; Lycosthenes, Prodigiorum ac.
Ostentorum Chronicon (Basel 1557) p. 284 reports the same number born in
the days of Algemundus, King of the Lombards.
[19] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 3.
[20] E. g. Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 45 (K. 12050); XXVIII Pl. 42, 20.
[21] In the same way we have hundreds of _official_ reports of occurences
and observed phenomena in the heavens with the interpretations taken from
the astrological texts; and we also have a large number of official
reports of the same character dealing with the results of the inspection
of the liver of a sacrificial animal, killed and inspected at a given time
for the purpose of obtaining an answer to a question put. These reports
are made in all cases to the rulers, which thus stamps them as official.
See copious examples in Jastrow, _Religion_, II 227-271; 275-319 (Liver
texts); 458-542; 578-584; 613-616; 639-652; 656-673; 688-692 (Astrological
Texts).
[22] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 28.
[23] The first omen is taken from Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 26, 11; the second
from ib. line 10.
[24] The omens were always supposed to bear on events of a public import;
hence the reports may always be assumed to be addressed to the reigning
king, even when this is not expressly stated.
[25] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 45.
[26] From other sources (cf. Jastrow, _Religion_ II 467, 3) we know that
Nergal-etir flourished during the reign of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria
(705-668 B. C.).
[27] Cun. Texts XXXVII Pl. 30.
[28] The text from which this omen is quoted is found. Cun. Texts XXVII
Pl. 48, 2-4.
[29] See examples in Jastrow, _Religion_ II 227-244 (Sargon and Naram-Sin
omens); 333 and 392 (murder of a ruler Urumu); 555, (invasion of Babylonia
by Hittites); see also 226, 3; 843, 7 and articles by the writer in
Zeitschr. f. Assyr. XXI 277-282 and Revue Sémitique XVII 87-96.
[30] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 6; also Boissier, _Documents Assyriens_ 185 (the
first publication of this text, the importance of which was recognized by
Boissier) and Thompson, _Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of
Nineveh and Babylon_ (London 1900) Nr. 276.
[31] I. e. A child of the harem--not the legitimate heir.
[32] Les plus anciennes Dynasties connues de Sumer-Accad. Comptes Rendus
de l'Acad. des Inscript. et Belles-Lettres 1911, 606-621.
[33] The position occupied by the sheep in divination leads in astrology
to the use of the Sumerian term Lu-Bat, i. e., 'dead sheep' as the
designation of the planets, the association of ideas being 'dead sheep' ==
=têrtu= 'omen' and then == planet, because the planets were regarded as
omens. In the larger sense, the moon and sun were included among the
planets. See Jastrow, _Religion_ II p. 448 sq. and the article "Sign and
Name for Planets in Babylonian" quoted in note 1 on p. 1.
[34] See Jastrow _Religion_ II 845, 1 and 847, 68.
[35] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 25-26 completed by the duplicate Pl. 27-28.
[36] Shown by the continuation of the text. Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 26.
[37] I. e. twisted up in a heap.
[38] An interpretation evidently based on the fact of a destructive storm
that swept over the land after the birth of a monstrosity as described in
the omen.
[39] Three interpretations, gathered from various documents and here
united.
[40] Not infrequently a birth-omen is interpreted as applying to the owner
of the mother lamb or to the household in which the lamb was born,--but
generally as an alternative to an _official_ interpretation bearing on
public affairs. See e. g. below pp. 15 and 16.
[41] See below p. 16.
[42] I. e., lying at the mouth.
[43] I. e., presumably the plantation and house of the owner of the mother
lamb.
[44] The opposite to this is 'throne will support throne', i. e., there
will be mutual support.
[45] I. e., the stall of the owner of the mother lamb.
[46] I. e., the property of the owner of the mother lamb will be
confiscated.
[47] I. e., the second issues from the belly of the other, or appears to
do so.
[48] Whatever occurred to the king or to a member of his household was an
omen for the _general_ welfare under the ancient view of the king as the
representative of the deity on earth.
[49] A partial exception, however occurs in the case of three and of ten
lambs being produced at one birth. See below p. 18.
[50] I. e., of course, the head resembles that of a bull. See below p. 23
sq. and 27 sq.
[51] I. e., with a normal head.
[52] A variant reads, "the city will acquire sovereignty".
[53] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 37-38 of which again Pl. 36 is an extract.
[54] The term used throughout is =isbu= for which see above p. 13.
[55] The unusual number of alternative interpretations--though all
unfavorable--points to the compilation of the text from various sources in
which the sign was again entered with a different interpretation in each.
These varying interpretations are here united; and no doubt the priests
felt that there was safety in numbers. One of the seven prognosticated
events was quite certain to happen--at some time. The chief point was that
the sign was unfavorable.
[56] I. e., the stall of the owner of the mother lamb.
[57] As above, an unofficial and an official interpretation.
[58] I. e., displaced.
[59] I. e., of Babylonia or Assyria.
[60] I. e., a demoniac being or a monstrosity of some kind.
[61] I. e., of the owner of the mother lamb.
[62] I. e., the rudiments of what seems to be a second ear.
[63] Similarly, a second ear appearing below or above (?) the other one,
is a favorable sign; on the right side, therefore, favorable to you, on
the left favorable to the enemy, and, therefore, unfavorable to your side.
[64] There is inserted at this point an omen for the case that "a foetus
has eight (?) feet and two tails with unfavorable interpretations,
approach of an usurper, no unity in the land, the land will destroy its
inhabitants."
[65] I. e., not one within the other--in all, therefore, three ears.
[66] Literally "full".
[67] The 'wide-eared man' (rapas uzni) is the wise man. Ashurbanapal in
the subscript to the tablets of his library thanks the gods for having
'opened his ears wide', i. e. given him understanding etc.
[68] See the partial list of such texts, Jastrow, _Religion_ II 851 note
1.
[69] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 21-22, with a duplicate Pl. 19 (K. 4132).
[70] For =marratum= "the rain-bow" see Jastrow, _Religion_ II 739 note 7
and 875, note 3. The "rain-bow" bird must have been one distinguished by
its manifold coloring. A lion-lamb with the head of a 'rainbow bird' was,
therefore, a young lamb with a large lion-like head, but showing various
hues and shades.
[71] The god of pestilence.
[72] An animal not yet identified.
[73] Low prices indicate hard times and are an unfavorable sign; high
prices are favorable. The gods in ancient Babylonia and Assyria appear to
have been on the side of the "Trusts".
[74] It is assumed that the abnormal birth is still-born, but in this
particular case the eyes are open.
[75] Such a monstrosity is known as Acephaly in modern nomenclature. See
Kitt, _Lehrbuch der pathologischen Anatomie der Haustiere_ (4 ed.) I, 72,
for illustrations of an =Acephalus bipes=.
[76] Known in modern nomenclature as Brachyprosopy. See Kitt, ib. I 87 sq.
[77] Presumably the mistress of the household in which the monstrosity was
born.
[78] Perokormy--See the illustration in Kitt, ib. I 75 sq.
[79] Cross-breeding, in fact, is a comparatively rare phenomenon in the
animal world, limited to the horse and ass, horse and zebra, dog and wolf,
dog and fox, or jackal, lion and tiger, ox and buffalo or yak, hare and
rabbit, camel and dromedary, goat and mountain stag, and possibly lambs
and goats. See Ellenberger-Scheunert, _Lehrbuch der vergleichenden
Physiologie der Haussäugetiere_ (Berlin 1910) 703.
[80] See the enumeration in Jastrow, _Religion_ II 873 note 2, e. g.,
'eyes like those of a dog' in the case of a newly-born lamb (Cun. Texts
XVII Pl. 23, 14), 'foot like that of a lion' (Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 45,
34), 'head like that of a dog' (Cun. Texts, XXVIII Pl. 36, 15); in the
case of a double foetus 'both like a lion' or 'like a dog' (Cun. Texts
XXVII Pl. 48, 11-12) etc.
[81] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 22, obv. 13-25.
[82] Ideographic designation 'water dog'.
[83] The chief god of Nippur and the older head of the pantheon.
[84] I. e., an alternative interpretation.
[85] An unidentified animal.
[86] I. e., an alternative interpretation of a less official character.
[87] See Jastrow, _Religion_ II 879 note 9.
[88] Founder of the Isin dynasty (c. 2175 B. C.)--another illustration of
an historical omen.
[89] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 4, 15-39, completed by the duplicates Pl. 3,
22-27 and Pl. 1, 1-2 and Pl. 6. The complete translation of the tablet
with its various duplicates will be found in Jastrow, _Religion_ II
900-916.
[90] An alternative 'unofficial' interpretation as in the instances noted
above pp. 15-16, 20 etc.
[91] Two interpretations, both unofficial--a rather unusual case.
[92] The rest of the line is broken off.
[93] The line is defective, but the omen was without doubt unfavorable.
[94] As in the case of the famous Siamese twins.
[95] Interpretation broken off, but it was no doubt the reverse of what
was entered in the preceding omen, i. e., unfavorable for the enemy and
therefore, favorable to your side.
[96] The end of the line can be restored by comparison with the preceding
omen.
[97] Restoration certain.
[98] I. e., the capital.
[99] Interpretation no doubt unfavorable.
[100] Restored by comparison with the second omen--above p. 29.
[101] Rest of the line broken off, but the interpretation was no doubt
unfavorable.
[102] The end of the line supplied by Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 24, 16.
[103] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 241, 16 (K. 3881) to the close of the tablet.
[104] Above p. 19 seq.
[105] Cun. Texts XXVII Pl. 16, together with Pl. 17, 18--an extract from
the fuller tablet.
[106] I. e., of the child; and so of course in every case.
[107] Compare the omen in the case of the young of an animal, above p. 19.
[108] I. e., the father of the child.
[109] The 'left' side being unfavorable to the enemy is favorable to you.
We may, however, expect to find in a variant text 'A weakling will be born
in the enemy's house'.
[110] See preceding note.
[111] I. e., misplaced.
[112] I. e., protect it.
[113] =Agnathy= in modern nomenclature. See Birnbaum, _Klinik der
Mißbildungen_ 73.
[114] I. e., the upper lip falls over the lower one.
[115] I. e., the father of the child.
[116] I. e., the city in which the child was born.
[117] Of the same house.
[118] Presumably to the household in which the child was born.
[119] I. e., the mother.
[120] Variant 'the offspring', i. e., the newly born infant.
[121] I. e., there will be a political upheaval.
[122] This malformation of a child with a closed anus is frequently
referred to in Roman omens, e. g., Julius Obsequens, de prodigiis (ed.
Roßbach), §§ 26 and 40. See below p. 52.
[123] I. e., only the rudiments of a foot are to be seen.
[124] I. e., they are directly attached to the body without thighs.
[125] I. e., bent and deformed so that one cannot stand on it.
[126] Twisted legs as in the illustration in Jastrow's _Bildermappe zur
Rel. Babyl. und Assyr._ No. 35.
[127] As, e. g., Guinard, _Précis de Teratologie_ or Birnbaum, _Klinik der
Mißbildungen_.
[128] Cun. Texts XXVIII Pl. 34, with duplicate K 630 (Virolleaud,
_Fragments des Textes Divinatoires_ 9).
[129] I. e., a shapeless abortion suggesting =pudenda=.
[130] I. e., a miscarriage, shaped like a head.
[131] I. e., a shapeless mass.
[132] I. e., an embryo.
[133] I. e., a shapeless mass.
[134] I. e., the father. Note the five alternative interpretations
pointing again to the union of various collections of omens.
[135] The god of pestilence.
[136] I. e., the father of the child.
[137] In which the birth took place.
[138] =Aprosopy.= See above p. 25.
[139] In which the birth took place.
[140] The expression used is =tigri ili= 'a divine =tigru='--which I take
to be the Babylonian term for dwarf. See Jastrow, _Religion_ II 913 note
7.
[141] Elsewhere we find the anomaly of a child born with a beard or with
hair on the chin referred to. See Jastrow, _Religion_ II 929.
[142] The talking infant (see also Jastrow, _Religion_ II 929 note 6)
occurs frequently as a prodigy in Roman literature. See Lycosthenes,
Prodigiorum ac Ostentorum Chronicon 113. 228 etc.
[143] See further Jastrow, _Religion_ II 928--infants born with one tooth,
with two teeth or a number of teeth. The omen is also found in Roman
literature, Livy, Historia XLI, 21; Pliny, Hist. Nat. VII, 15. King
Richard the Third is among the historical personages said to have been
born with teeth and which was regarded as an evil omen. (See Henry V, 3d
Part. Act V, 6. 53 and 75.)
[144] Nergal, the god of pestilence, is meant. The text adds as a note
'Such a being is called a divine =tigru='. See note 1 above.
[145] Cun. Texts XXVI Pl. 4 with various duplicates and 'extract' tablets.
See Jastrow, _Religion_ II 907, note 1.
[146] An unidentified animal.
[147] In another list of birth-omens a woman giving birth to a serpent is
interpreted that 'the king will increase in power' (Cun. Texts XXVIII Pl.
43, 9).
[148] =Alluttu=--described elsewhere (Cun. Texts XXVIII Pl. 46, 9), as a
fish with a thick head--probably, therefore, a dolphin.
[149] Such a malformation with the feet united and ending in the rudiments
of toes that resemble fish's tail is still called a 'Sirenformation' in
modern nomenclature. See Guinard, _Précis de Teratologie_ 366 with
illustrations fig. 178 and 179. See also Lycosthenes l. c. 142 and 316,
also Hirst and Piersol, Human Monstrosities 88 and Pl. VII (sireno-melus).
[150] The interpretation is broken off.
[151] Cun. Texts XXVIII Pl. 3, 10; where this comparison is introduced
with the interpretation that 'the king will be without a rival'.
[152] _L'astrologie Grecque_ IX.
[153] See numerous examples in Cun. Texts XXIII.
[154] See the writer's paper on 'The Liver and the Beginnings of Anatomy'
quoted on p. 1 note 1.
[155] On the basis of such passages as Phaedo, § 31. See, however, the
postcript on p. 80.
[156] See Scriptores Physiognomici Graeci et Latini (ed. Richard Foerster,
Leipzig 1903, 2 vols.) containing the treatises of Pseudo-Aristotle,
Polemon, Adamantius and others. See Chapter I of Polemon (ed. Foerster I
108) and Chapter II (170-198); Chapter II, 2 of Adamantius (349 sq.) for a
long enumeration of the resemblances between man and animals and the
conclusions to be drawn therefrom.
[157] 'Physiognomika' included in Foerster's edition I 5-91. See
Foerster's Prolegomena to his edition XIX, 2.
[158] I quote from the Latin ed. of 1593 (Hanovia).
[159] He also has a series of chapters on the voice, which are much more
reasonable in character because of the omission of any comparisons with
animals; and passes on to the hands, the breast, the belly and the thighs
and feet, and the general shape of the body.
[160] _Physiognomische Fragmente_ (Leipzig 1775-1778).
[161] _Von der Physiognomik_ (Leipzig 1772), 2. Stück p. 45.
[162] Fritz Neubert, _Die volkstümlichen Anschauungen über Physiognomik in
Frankreich bis zum Ausgang des Mittelalters_ (Munich Dissertation 1910)
118.
[163] See Jastrow _Religion_, II 704 sq.
[164] I quote Rossbach's edition in the Teubner Series.
[165] In the Babylonian-Assyrian birth-omens, such cases, expressed by the
phrase 'middle portion open', are very frequent, e. g., Cun. Text XXVII
Pl. 44 (K 3166); 47, 14-15; 44 etc.
[166] See above p. 39 and below p. 57.
[167] Above p. 40.
[168] In the same paragraph he records the birth of a serpent by a woman
as in Julius Obsequens § 57.
[169] Book I, 6.
[170] E. g., =cave tibi, Roma= (I, 6, 5) at the time of the Second Punic
War.
[171] I, 6, 5. Further examples of all kinds of omens are found in Chap. 8
of the first book of the Memorabilia.
[172] Life of Julius Caesar § 61.
[173] De Divinatione I 41-42.
[174] Arnobius, Adversum Nationes VII 26 calls Etruria the =genetrix et
mater superstitionis=.
[175] See above p. 4.
[176] De Divinatione I 53.
[177] Cun. Texts XXIII Pl. 14, 4.
[178] De Divinatione I 53. Cicero does not specifically state that the
interpretation is due to Etruscan haruspices, but Thulin, _Etruskische
Disziplin_ III 116, properly concludes that Cicero who is discussing
Etruscan augury in the paragraph has Etruscan augurs in mind.
[179] See above p. 14 note 2. Among the Romans these two classes were
known as =ostenta publica= and =ostenta privata= (Thulin, _Etruskische
Disziplin_ III 86 and 116, 1).
[180] The phrase =bartu= or =bartu ina mâti= 'revolt' or 'revolt in the
country' occurs hundreds of times in the divination texts.
[181] See p. 29 and 31.
[182] See p. 31.
[183] See above p. 29 sq. Cicero also furnishes us (de Divinatione I 36)
with a most striking parallel between a Babylonian-Assyrian animal omen
and an Etruscan interpretation of the same omen. He tells us that the
nurse of the young Roscius observed how a serpent came and wound itself
around the sleeping child. On inquiry, the Haruspices declared that the
occurrence was an omen indicating that the child would become famous and
distinguished above his fellows. In the same way we find in the
Babylonian-Assyrian texts that 'if a serpent is found lying on a little
child, the child whether male or female, will acquire renown and riches'.
See Jastrow, _Religion_ II 782 and 942, 3.
[184] =Saturnalia= III 7, 2 also quoted by Servius, though in a slightly
modified form. See Thulin, _Etruskische Disziplin_ III 76 and 102.
[185] The chief colors in Babylonia-Assyrian omen texts are white, black,
yellow and dark red. See e. g., Cun. Texts XXVIII Pl. 32 (K. 3838 etc.),
4-9.
[186] Cun. Texts XXVIII Pl. 19 (K. 13443), 5.
[187] =hud libbi=, literally 'joy of heart'.
[188] Cicero, De Divinatione I 41, who correctly explains the application
of =monstrum= to a malformation. For the etymology of =prodigium=, see
Walde, _Lateinisch-Etymologisches Wörterbuch_ s. v.
[189] De Generatione Animalium IV, 54. See above p. 44.
[190] He gives as illustrations a child born with the head of a ram or of
an ox; a calf born with a child's head, or a lamb with the head of an ox.
See further ib IV, 65 seq.
[191] De Generatione IV, 63. See above p. 44. He argues against the
possibility of such hybrid creatures (IV, 55), on the ground of the
varying length of pregnancy in the case of women, ewes, bitches, and cows.
[192] I, 6, de Prodigiis quae evenere Externis § 1. See also Herodotus,
VII 57 who represents the source of Valerius Maximus.
[193] Book I, 8 de Miraculis quae contigere Externis § 12.
[194] VII, 57.
[195] Varia Historia I 29. Aelian says that the story was told by 'the
children in Cos'--evidently a rationalistic supplement to the tale, dating
from a time when it was no longer considered possible to take such stories
seriously. The story had become, as we would say, 'an old wives' tale'.
[196] See above p. 24 sq. and Jastrow, _Religion_ II 875 sq.
[197] Herodotus I § 84.