According to Herodotus, the Arabs of the desert had a peculiar method of confirming a vow of friendship. Two men stood on either side of a third, who made incisions with a sharp stone on the palms of their hands, and, having dipped in the blood therefrom some portion of a garment of each, he proceeded to moisten with it seven stones lying on the ground.[529] The age of the world, in the opinion of learned men of former times, was properly divided into seven great epochs; namely, the _first_, from the creation of Adam to the Deluge; _second_, from the latter event to the time of Abraham; _third_, from Abraham to the Exodus of the children of Israel; _fourth_, from that time to the building of Solomon’s Temple; _fifth_, from then to the Babylonish Captivity; _sixth_, the period between that and the coming of our Lord; and _seventh_, from the beginning of the Christian era to the end of the world. According to astrologers, man’s age was divided into seven parts, governed by seven planets. The first part, _Infancy_, comprised four years, and was ruled by the Moon, a weak, moist, and changeable body. Next came _Childhood_, a period of ten years governed by Mercury, a planet indifferently good or bad, according to the character of the planets with whom he was associated. Following this came _Youthhead_, from fourteen to twenty-two, over which Venus presided. Next was _Adolescence_, lasting twenty years and ruled by the Sun, and in this age man attained his full strength and vigor. The fifth, from forty-two to fifty-six, was called _Manhood_, and was under the dominion of Mars, a bad star. At this time men began to wax angry, impatient, and avaricious, but were more temperate in their diet, and more discreet. The next period of twelve years was called _Old Age_, governed by Jupiter, a noble planet, whose influence rendered men religious, chaste, and just. The seventh was _Decrepit Old Age_, ruled by Saturn, and comprising the years from seventy-eight to ninety-eight.[530] In the Lambeth Palace Library there is a manuscript of the fifteenth century in which the seven canonical hours are compared with the seven periods of human life, as follows:— Morning, Infancy. Midmorrow, Childhood. Undern, School Age. Mid-day, the Knightly Age. Nones, or High Noon, the Kingly Age. Midovernoon, Elderly Age. Evenson, Declining Age.[531] In the “Secrets of Numbers,” by William Ingpen, Gent. (London, 1624), the number seven is described as the most excellent of all for several notable and curious reasons, and prominent among these was the alleged fact that the Soul consists of seven parts, namely, Acuminie, Wit, Diligence, Counsel, Reason, Wisdom, and Experience. IV. ODD NUMBERS IN WITCHCRAFT