It is interesting to see from a long list of comparisons of a new-born lamb with all kinds of animals[81] the extent to which the association of ideas connected with the animals in question is carried. If an ewe gives birth to a dog ... the king's land will revolt. If an ewe gives birth to a beaver[82] (?), the king's land will experience misery. If an ewe gives birth to a fox, Enlil[83] will maintain the rule of the legitimate king for many years, or[84] the king will strengthen his power. If an ewe gives birth to a Mukh-Dul[85], the enemy will carry away the inhabitants of the land, the land will despite its strength go to ruin, the dynasty will be opposed, confusion in the land. If an ewe gives birth to a panther, the kingdom of the ruler will secure universal sway. If an ewe gives birth to a hyena (?), approach of Elam. If an ewe gives birth to a gazelle, the days of the ruler through the grace of the gods will be long, or the ruler will have warriors. If an ewe gives birth to a hind, the son of the king will seize his father's throne, or the approach of Subartu will overthrow the land. If an ewe gives birth to a roebuck, the son of the king will seize his father's throne, or destruction of cattle[86]. If an ewe gives birth to a wild cow, revolt will prevail in the land. If an ewe gives birth to an ox, the weapons of the ruler will prevail over the weapons of the enemy. If an ewe gives birth to an ox that has _ganni_[87], the ruler will weaken the land of his enemy. If an ewe gives birth to an ox with two tails, omen of Ishbi-Ura[88], who was without a rival. If an ewe gives birth to a cow, the king will die, another king will draw nigh and divide the country. One might have supposed that such omens represent a purely imaginative theoretical factor, but the introduction of the historical reference proves conclusively that the Babylonians and Assyrians attached an importance to the fancied resemblance of an animal to an other, and that in the case of such strange statements as that an ewe gives birth to one of a series of all kinds of animals, it is this fancied resemblance that forms the basis and the point of departure for the interpretation. V If, now, we turn to birth-omens in the case of infants, we find in the omen texts the same two classes, those in which all kinds of abnormalities and malformations are registered, and such in which the fancied resemblance of the new-born infant to some animal, or of some features of an infant to those of an animal is introduced as a factor. The principles underlying the interpretation, so far as they can be recognized, are naturally the same as in the case of birth-omens for the young of domesticated animals. A few illustrations will make this clear.