The Armenians sometimes practised divination by watching the images that appeared, or were supposed to appear, on the smooth surface of the waters of a well, and the person who saw such images was called _hornaiogh_, “he who looks into a well.” An Arab woman living in the neighborhood of Constantinople enjoyed a great reputation for her power in this respect, and was frequently consulted by Armenians and by other dwellers in the Turkish capital. Whoever wished to question this woman regarding the cause of an illness, the whereabouts of stolen objects, etc., usually took along a child of the household, and the actual scrying was generally performed by this child, who would describe or identify the forms it saw on the water’s surface. If, however, for one reason or another, no child was brought, the witch herself did the scrying. In regard to illness, a distinction was made between “natural” maladies and those directly caused by some spirit. Should the spirit (_peri_) supposed to cause the dire malady known as _drsévé_, a kind of consumption, be seen to glide over the surface of the water, the sorceress would find it necessary to invoke the whole race of _peris_ to come to the aid of the patient, who was expected to pay more than the usual fee for this very special service.[307] The _peris_ of Armenian legend were sometimes good and sometimes evil spirits; in the former case these were supposed to perform the functions of guardian angels, and every one was said to have a peri especially delegated to watch over him. This found expression in the fact that when one Armenian felt at first sight an instinctive sympathy for another, he would say, “My peri loves you dearly (_peris chad siretz kezi_).” In the contrary case, the feeling of antipathy was also attributed to the attitude assumed by the guardian spirit toward the new acquaintance.[308] These spirits were therefore supposed to encourage or discourage greater intimacy with newcomers in accord with the true interests of those over whom they watched. The power to see images in a crystal does not appear to depend to any great extent upon a morbid nervous condition of the seer, for many of the most successful experimenters have been of good and even of exceptionally vigorous physique. Indeed, illness seems to diminish or destroy this power, at least in the case of those who are habitually healthy.[309] This does not imply that some highly nervous and even hysterical individuals have not been favored with “crystal visions.” Very probably the rule here is the same as in ordinary hypnotism. Those persons who have a strong will and sound nerves are able to hypnotize themselves, while those whose nerves are disordered are subject to the hypnotic influence of others.