THE FLORAL ORACLE. 251 
This catalogue might be considerably enlarged, 
but as it is permissible for the manipulator to 
change the significations when requisite, the 
above will be quite sufficient to guide the judg¬ 
ment in adding any other flowers. 
The next portion of the game is the revelation 
of the intended’s profession or occupation, and 
must be practised in the same method as the 
first, thus:— 
A Lily typifies A nobleman. 
A Rose “ An artist. 
A Thistle “ A soldier. 
An Oak-leaf t! A farmer. 
A Laurel-leaf typifies A poet. 
Apple-blossom “ A lawyer. 
Cypress A Doctor. 
Tulip A free¬ 
holder. 
A favorite plan of attempting to peep into 
futurity by means of floral agency is practised 
by abstracting the petals of flowers, and with 
each innocent floral theft using such alternate 
words as those in the following verses. It is a 
custom of considerable antiquity, and is still 
affectionately preserved in many different lands. 
A flower of the aster kind is generally made use 
for the purpose, although daisies and other 
blooms occasionally serve for the same opera¬ 
tions, and, there can be little doubt, are equally 
efficacious. Goethe, in the garden scene of 
“ Faust,” introduces the rural custom in order 
to illustrate the childish simplicity of Margaret. 
In a poem entitled “ The Decision of the Flower,” 
L. E. L. thus alludes to the incident:— 
