Secret Sciences Of The Ancients.

took up each piece thrice , one after another , and from the order in which the marks presented themselves he drew inferences for the solution of the difficulty , or for the prediction of the future . This is not unlike the mode of divination alluded

to by Ezekielxxi . 21 , "For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the Avay , at the head of the two ways , to use divination : he made his arrows bright , he consulted with images ( marg . knives ) , he looked on the liver . " The process was to mark a

number of arrows , corresponding to the alternatives , with the names of the nations or places Avhich were the subject of consideration . The arrows Avere then shaken together in a quiver , and the marks on the one first drawn decided the

preference . This always Avas in use among the Arabs , and was employed by them on all occasions . The arrows were three in number , unfeathered ; upon one , Avas written " Command me , Lord , " on another " Forbid , or prevent Lord , " and the third was

blank . These Avere put in a bag held by the divine , by Avhom also the lot was drawn . As the prophet mentions that the arrows were made bri ght for the occasion , it is presumed that this divination consisted in the inspection of the

appearances these polished heads might exhibit . The method of divination by looking in the liver Avas very common among the ancient Greeks and

Romans who examined the appearances of the entrails of animals slain for sacrifice . Jarnblicus , Avho wrote on the mysteries of the ancients , reasons thus : " If the power of the gods proceeds in manifestations as far as to things inanimate , such as

pebble stones , rods , pieces of wood , stones , or corn—this very thing is most admirable in the presignification of divine prophecy ; because it imparts soul to things inanimate , motion to things immoveable , and makes all things to be clear and

known , to partake of reason and to be defined by the measures of intellection , though possessing no portion of reason for themselves . " The arts of divination were founded mainly on the investigations of science . It was at first a fair

question whether , amidst the wonders Avhich science was unfolding to the view , it might not contribute to lift the veil from the future , and reveal what Avas yet to come . There has been in the human bosom no desire

stronger than looking into the future . We are so made that we Avish to lift the mysterious veil which shrouds the future , to penetrate the deep darkness which rests on the unseen Avorld . Our great

interests are there . The past is fixed , and cannot now affect us , except by the consequences of what we have done , and by teaching us lessons of value , derived from our own observation and that of others . But the future is not fixed . Man , so anxious to know what this is to be , finds himself in this respect to it peculiarly unendowed .

It required centuries of investigation , a thousand failures , and the results of long and patient thought to ascertain what Avere the true objects of science , and to convince the world that it was not its legitimate purpose to reveal the future to

man . The Divining Rod is a forked branch of some peculiar kind of wood , usually , but not always , of hazel , by Avliich it has been pretended that minerals and water may be discovered in the earth , the rod , if slowly carried along in suspension , dipping

and pointing doAvnward , it is affirmed , when brought over the spot where the consecrated spring or mine is situated . Other mysterious powers , such as that of discovering the lost boundaries of lands , and even of detecting the birthplace and

parentage of foundlings , have also been attributed to the divining rod . The rod is sometimes called the Vig ila Divina , or the Bacalus Divinatorius , or the rod of Aaron , or the Cadaceus ( after the wand of Mercury ) . But although a

rod or Avand has been the distinguishing ensign of the professors of magic in all ages and countries , and rabdology or divination by the rod , A \ as familiar to the ancient nations , the form , the material , and the mode of using the divining rod of the modern miners and water-finders seem

to be superstitions of comparatively recent introductions . Many persons Avith some pretensions to science have been believers in the powers ascribed to the rod . George Agricola , the able and learned metallurgist of the sixteenth centmy ,

and , in later times , John Sperlingius and Theodore Kirchinasrius , AVIIO have written on the rod , all say the devil is in it . Morhoff , who was eminent for his scientific as well as literary knowledge , admits that it is not clear to him whether

the effects be natural or the result of demoniac agency . Many curious facts on the subject are to be found in "Bayle ' s Dictionary . " An old author on divinity describes it as " a strange kind of exploration , and peculiar way of

rabdomancy , used in mineral discoveries . The method of proceeding is to take a forked hazel , commonly called Moses his rod , which , freely held