wasting, from want of health, from the evil spirit of the ulcer,
from the spreading quinsy of the gullet, from the violent ulcer, from
the noxious ulcer, may the king of heaven preserve, may the king of
earth preserve."

Another is phrased thus:

"From the cruel spirit of the head, from the strong spirit of the head,
from the head spirit that departs not, from the head spirit that comes
not forth, from the head spirit that will not go, from the noxious
head spirit, may the king of heaven preserve, may the king of earth
preserve."

As to omens having to do with the affairs of everyday life the number
is legion. For example, Moppert has published, in the Journal
Asiatique,(19) the translation of a tablet which contains on its two
sides several scores of birth-portents, a few of which maybe quoted at
random:

"When a woman bears a child and it has the ears of a lion, a strong
king is in the country." "When a woman bears a child and it has a bird's
beak, that country is oppressed." "When a woman bears a child and its
right hand is wanting, that country goes to destruction." "When a woman
bears a child and its feet are wanting, the roads of the country are
cut; that house is destroyed." "When a woman bears a child and at the
time of its birth its beard is grown, floods are in the country." "When
a woman bears a child and at the time of its birth its mouth is open and
speaks, there is pestilence in the country, the Air-god inundates the
crops of the country, injury in the country is caused."

Some of these portents, it will be observed, are not in much danger
of realization, and it is curious to surmise by what stretch of the
imagination they can have been invented. There is, for example, on the
same tablet just quoted, one reference which assures us that "when a
sheep bears a lion the forces march multitudinously; the king has not a
rival." There are other omens, however, that are so easy of realization
as to lead one to suppose that any Babylonian who regarded all the
superstitious signs must have been in constant terror. Thus a tablet
translated by Professor Sayce(20) gives a long list of omens furnished
by dogs, in which we are assured that:

1. If a yellow dog enters into the palace, exit from that
palace will be baleful.
2. If a dog to the palace goes, and on a throne lies down, that
palace is burned.
3. If a black dog into a temple enters, the foundation of that
temple is not stable.
4