it would be profitable for him to rear sheep; a third asks who has stolen the cushions he has lost. These questions on leaden tablets were also in use at other places. At the oracle of Apollo-Coropaeus, in the Peninsula Magnesia, in Thessaly, the questioners had to give their names to the temple scribe to be written on the tablet; they were then called in turn and conducted to the sanctuary, where the leaden tablets were handed them. On these they wrote their questions; the tablets were then collected and placed in a vessel, which was sealed with the official seal of the temporal and spiritual officials, and left for the night in the sanctuary. Next morning the seals were broken, the names of the questioners called according to the list, and the tablets given back with the answers. Among oracles we must mention that of Zeus Ammon, in the Libyan Desert, which enjoyed a great reputation in Greece even in early times; that of Zeus Trophonius, at Lebadia, in Boeotia; that of Amphiaraus, at Oropus, which last was included among the dream oracles, since the mediation of the priests was not required here, and the questioners received their revelation direct from the god. It would be impossible to enumerate all the oracles and the customs observed there; throughout the whole of Greek antiquity they played a very important part in the life of the nation and the individual, and were often decisive in political matters, as well as in trivial details of daily life. Of no less importance than the modes of prophecy already mentioned are those which may be called professional, and which did not depend on a direct revelation of the will of the god, so much as on the observation and interpretation of certain apparently fortuitous signs, which were, however, supposed to proceed from the divinity. Of course, many oracles were very closely connected with these professional prophecies. Here, too, we may distinguish several different kinds. In the first place, there is interpretation of signs which appear though unsought for. The number of these is, of course, countless, since the whole realm of nature and life affords scope for them. Signs of the sky, atmospheric phenomena, change in the course of rivers, earthquakes, clefts in the ground, abnormal births, all which are frequently mentioned in ancient history, may be included in this class, as also the flight of birds, to which particular attention was given, though the proceedings of other animals were also watched, or the mere fact of their appearance was supposed to announce good or evil fortune. Then there were phenomena relating to human beings, such as sneezing, singing in the ears, words spoken by chance, etc., and the place where these things occur is of great importance, as, for instance, whether on the right or the left hand. The second class of professional prophecy is that in which man seeks for the signs and calls upon the god to grant him a token of his presence and will.