OMENS. 195 



accidentally coincident, it is not singular that 

 this coincidence should have been observed 

 and registered, and that omens of the most 

 absurd kind should be trusted in. In the 

 west of England, half a century ago, a par- 

 ticular hollow noise on the sea-coast was re- 

 ferred to a spirit or goblin, called Bucca, and 

 was supposed to foretell a shipwreck: the 

 philosopher knows, that sound travels much 

 faster than currents in the air and the 

 sound always foretold the approach of a very 

 heavy storm, which seldom takes place on 

 that wild and rocky coast, surrounded as it 

 is by the Atlantic, without a shipwreck on 

 some part Of its extensive shores, 



PHYS. All the instances of omens you 

 have mentioned are founded on reason ; but 

 how can you explain such absurdities as 

 Friday being an unlucky day, the terror of 

 spilling salt or meeting an old woman? I 

 knew a man, of very high dignity, who was 

 exceedingly moved by these omens, and who 

 never went out shooting without a bittern's 

 claw fastened to his buttonhole by a riband 

 which he thought ensured him good luck, 

 o 2 



