The mention of table-turning by Ammianus Marcellinus reminds me of a
curious passage in the _Apologeticus_ of Tertullian, cap. xxiii., to which
I invite the attention of those interested in the subject:
"Porro si et magi phantasmata edunt et jam defunctorum infamant animas;
si pueros in eloquium oraculi elidunt; si multa miracula circulatoriis
præstigiis ludunt; si et somnia immittunt habentes semel invitatorum
angelorum et dæmonum assistentem sibi potestatem, _per quos_ et capræ
et _mensæ divinare consueverunt_; quanto magis," &c.
Here table divination by means of angels and demons seems distinctly
alluded to. How like the modern system! The context of this passage, as
well as the extract itself, will suggest singular coincidence between
modern and ancient pretensions of this class.