It may be accounted for in two ways.  One that in all races as they grow up, so to speak, there is the same course of evolution of ideas and superstition which to many appears childish.  The other explanation seems to be the more reasonable one, if we believe, as we are forced to do, that omens do foretell—­that all peoples, all races, accumulate a record, oral or otherwise, of things which have happened more or less connected with things which seemed to indicate them.  In course of time this knowledge appears to consolidate.  It gets generally accepted as true.  And then it is handed on from generation to generation.  Often with the passage of years it gets twisted and a new meaning taken out of it altogether different from the original.

It would be difficult to attempt to classify omens.  Many books have been written on the subject and more yet to be written of the beliefs of the various races.  The best that can be offered here is a selection from one or other of the varied sources.  In Greece sneezing was a good omen and was considered a proof of the truth of what was said at the moment by the sneezer.

A tingling in the hand denoted the near handling of money, a ringing in the ears that news will soon be received.  The number of sneezes then became a sign for more definite results.  The hand which tingled, either right or left, indicated whether it were to be paid or received.  The particular ear affected was held to indicate good or evil news.  Other involuntary movements of the body were also considered of prime importance.

Many omens are derived from the observation of various substances dropped into a bowl of water.  In Babylon oil was used.  To-day in various countries melted lead, wax, or the white of an egg, is used.  From the shapes which result, the trade or occupation of a future husband, the luck for the year, and so on, are deduced in the folk practices of modern Europe.  Finns use stearine and melted lead, Magyars lead, Russians wax, Danes lead and egg, and the northern counties of England egg, wax and oil.

Bird omens were the subject of very serious study in Greece.  It has been thought that this was because in the early mythology of Greece some of their gods and goddesses were believed to have been birds.  Birds, therefore, were particularly sacred, and their appearances and movements were of profound significance.  The principal birds for signs were the raven, the crow, the heron, wren, dove, woodpecker, and kingfisher, and all the birds of prey, such as the hawk, eagle, or vulture, which the ancients classed together (W.  R. Halliday, “Greek Divination").  Many curious instances, which were fulfilled, of bird omens are related in “The Other World,” by Rev. F. Lee.  A number of families have traditions about the appearance of a white bird in particular.