d by the omen. Some, but not so many, add
to this the superstition that the involuntary twitching of the eye-lid
or itching of the eyebrow indicates the coming of visitors in the same
manner; and many a projected absence from the house is deferred by our
good ladies, from one or another of these omens and the impression that
by absence at that particular time they may lose the opportunity of
seeing valued friends.

Next in generality, if not even entitled to precedence of the last, is
the superstition that the gift of a knife or any sharp article of
cutlery, is almost certain to produce estrangement between the giver and
the receiver--in other words, to "cut friendship." Ridiculous as the
superstition may appear, there is scarcely one of either sex who does
not pay some respect to it; and of one thousand knives that may happen
to be transferred between intimate friends (and lovers) it is safe to
say that not less than nine hundred and ninety have the omen guarded
against by a half playful demand and acceptance of some small coin in
return, giving the transfer some slight fiction of being a mercantile
transaction. The statistics of how many loves or friendships have really
been severed by non-attention to this important precaution, might be
somewhat difficult to compile, and the attempt need not be made in this
connection.

Thousands of musically inclined young ladies have serious objections to
singing before breakfast, quoting, not altogether jocularly, the proverb
that "one who sings before breakfast will cry [weep] before night,"
which no doubt had its origin in a proverb derived from the Orientals,
that that--

"The bird which singeth in the early morn,
Ere night by cruel talons will be torn."

Not less unaccountable, and yet impressive, are some of the
superstitions connected with marriage, death, and the departure of
friends. A belief very generally prevails that when a couple enter a
church to be married, if the bride steps at all in advance of the
bridegroom, he will be found an unwilling and unfaithful husband; while
if the opposite should happen to be the order of precedence, even by a
few inches, the marriage tie will prove a happy and long-enduring one.
The belief that the bridal hour should occur during clear weather, is
perhaps a natural one, and derived from well-understood natural laws
affecting the physical systems of those entering into such intimate
relations; but the superstition goes furth