or ἱεροσκοπία, _haruspicium_ or _ars haruspicina_) was, according to Aeschylus, the invention of Prometheus. It seems to have been most cultivated by the Etruscans, among whom it was raised into a complete science, and from whom it passed to the Romans. Sacrifices were either offered for the special purpose of consulting the gods, or in the ordinary way; but in both cases the signs were observed, and when they were propitious, the sacrifice was said καλλιερεῖν. The principal points that were generally observed were, 1. The manner in which the victim approached the altar. 2. The nature of the intestines with respect to their colour and smoothness; the liver and bile were of particular importance. 3. The nature of the flame which consumed the sacrifice. Especial care was also taken during a sacrifice, that no inauspicious or frivolous words were uttered by any of the bystanders: hence the admonitions of the priests, εὐφημεῖτε and εὐφημία, or σιγᾶτε, σιωπᾶτε, _favete linguis_, and others; for improper expressions were not only thought to pollute and profane the sacred act, but to be unlucky omens.--The art of interpreting signs of the second class was called οἰωνιστική, _augurium_, or _auspicium_. It was, like the former, common to Greeks and Romans, but never attained the same degree of importance in Greece as it did in Rome. [AUSPICIUM.] The Greeks, when observing the flight of birds, turned their face toward the north, and then a bird appearing to the right (east), especially an eagle, a heron, or a falcon, was a favourable sign; while birds appearing to the left (west) were considered as unlucky signs. Of greater importance than the appearance of animals, at least to the Greeks, were the phenomena in the heavens, particularly during any public transaction. Among the unlucky phenomena in the heavens (διοσημεῖα, _signa_, or _portenta_) were thunder and lightning, an eclipse of the sun or moon, earthquakes, rain of blood, stones, milk, &c. Any one of these signs was sufficient at Athens to break up the assembly of the people.--In common life, things apparently of no importance, when occurring at a critical moment, were thought by the ancients to be signs sent by the gods, from which conclusions might be drawn respecting the future. Among these common occurrences we may mention sneezing, twinkling of the eyes, tinkling of the ears, &c.--The art of interpreting dreams (ὀνειροπολία), which had probably been introduced into Europe from Asia, where it is still a universal practice, seems in the Homeric age to have been held in high esteem, for dreams were said to be sent by Zeus. In subsequent times, that class of diviners who occupied themselves with the interpretation of dreams, seems to have been very numerous and popular; but they never enjoyed any protection from the state, and were chiefly resorted to by private individuals.--The subject of oracles is treated in a separate article. [ORACULUM.]--The word _divinatio_ was used in a particular