Some of the hidden meanings attributed to dreams are elsewhere referred to. As the subject has a literature of its own, we need mention only a few of the more commonly accepted interpretations. Their name is legion. To dream of a white horse is a certain presage of a death in the family. To dream of a funeral is a sign that you will soon attend a wedding. To dream of losing one’s teeth is ominous of some coming sorrow. To dream of a snake is a token that you have an enemy. Touching a dead body will prevent dreaming of it. The same dream, occurring three nights in succession, will surely come to pass. A slice of wedding-cake put under the pillow will cause an unmarried woman to dream of her future husband. [Illustration] XV FORTUNE-TELLING, ASTROLOGY, AND PALMISTRY “I asked her of the way, which she informed me; Then craved my charity, and bade me hasten To save a sister.”--_Otway._ One noticeable thing about certain forms of superstition is their general acceptance by the public at large, like certain moral evils, which it is felt to be an almost hopeless task to do away with. Other good, easy souls choose to ignore the presence of fortune-tellers, astrologers, palmists among their daily haunts. As a matter of fact, however, fortune-telling, astrology, and palmistry have become so fully incorporated with the everyday life of all large communities as to excite very little comment from the common run of us. It certainly would astonish some people if they knew to what an extent these methods of hoodwinking the credulous, or weak-minded, continue to flourish in our large cities, without the least attempt at concealment or disguise. One need only look about him to see the signs of these shrewd charlatans everywhere staring him in the face, or run his eye over the columns of the daily papers to be convinced how far superstition still lives and thrives in the chosen strongholds of modern thought and modern scepticism. At fairs and social gatherings fortune-telling and palmistry have come to be recognized features, either as a means of raising funds for some highly deserving object, of course, or for the sake of the amusement they afford, at the expense of those well-meaning souls who do not know how to say no. To be sure, it has come to be thoroughly understood that no benevolent object whatsoever has a chance of succeeding nowadays without some sort of nickel-in-the-slot attachment, by which the delusion of getting something for your money is so clumsily kept up.