already considered this in the case of the
dream on abundance, but this is only one
instance among many, as shall be presently
shown.

BAKING.—To dream that you are baking bread is
a good sign; if you are in business you will most
assuredly prosper; if you are in love, that your
affection will be returned; but should the bread be
burnt, it portends assault by enemies, poverty, and
various misfortunes.

Thus we see how a dream, which commences
hopefully, may, by a very small change in its
course, become fatal to our best wishes. The whole
hinging on the question whether the loaf which
we are engaged with in our dream should turn
to be slack-baked or the reverse. We find
"business" again alluded to in another portion
of our manual, and here, also, a curious suggestion
of another kind is forced upon our attention:

CUCUMBER.—To dream of cucumbers denotes
recovery to the sick, and you will fall speedily in love;
or if you are in love you will marry the present
object of your affection; also moderate success in
trade.

Now, does not a suggestion such as this open
an enormous field of conjecture as to what may
be done in the way of cultivating auspicious
dreams. Let the young tradesman, for instance,
who wishes to succeed in business, after reading
the above, proceed straightway to get himself
a gigantic cucumber; let him spend the day in
contemplating it from every conceivable point of
view, and, finally, let him eat the whole of it
for his supper, and immediately retire to rest.
Between the intervals of indigestion the young
tradesman is not unlikely to get a nap or two,
in the course of which the cucumber, which is
rending his entrails, may dance for a moment
before his mind's eye. Once let this happen, and
he is a made man. He wakes up dyspeptic,
probably for life, but with a blissful consciousness
that a "moderate success in trade" (and what.
well-regulated person desires more) is secured
to him during the remainder of his career. If,
however, the young tradesman could manage to
introduce an egg or two into his dream, there is
no end to the prosperity which he might expect,
for see what is said on this subject:

EGGS.—To dream you are buying eggs is a favourable
omen; to dream you are selling eggs is also
lucky; you will be happy in marriage, have many
children, and do well.

There are, however, some things which we
should be as careful to exclude from our sleeping
thoughts as we should be to cultivate others.
Let us, by all means, beware of Hares, for "to
see hares is pain and agony." "Hanging,"
again, "indicates generally misfortunes and chagrin."
"Ravens, denote disaster, adultery,
death, and enemies," while if you dream that
you see tailors at work, you may expect treachery
and deceit. "Onions" denote "much suffering;"
and as to comets:

COMETS.—To dream of comets is a sign of war,
plagues, famine, and death; to the lover it denotes
an entire frustration of his hope; to the farmer,
failure of his crop; and to the seaman, storms and
shipwreck. After such a dream, change, if possible,
your present place of residence.

This last piece of advice given, as it appears
to be, to persons on ship-board, seems somewhat
cruel. There are many doubtless so situated,
who would gladly follow this counsel, but where
are they to go? The natural answer to the
question is—overboard.

While on the subject of evil dreams, it may
be well to mention that "needles are a sign of
hatred; to thread a needle is inquietude;" while
"to dream that you are bandy is an unlucky
omen, it is a sign you will meet with many
misfortunes."

Among the remarkable phenomena which
strike one in perusing the pages of the Ladies'
Own Dream-book, may be classed the peculiar
views held by the compiler as to the subjects
which people are in the habit of dreaming of.
Thus we are informed that "to dream you are
sitting on the top of a church denotes vain
hopes." Does any one ever dream that he is
sitting on the top of a church? Does any one
ever dream of coals, which, it seems, "is a sign
of riches?" It is affirmed, too, by our author,
and here once for all attention may be called
to his peculiar grammatical idiosyncrasies, that
"to dig up an iron pot is great cares."  Surely
it is too much to suppose that anybody ever
dreams of digging up an iron pot.  Did the
reader, again, ever dream that he was a fool?

FOOLISH.—To dream you are a fool is a very
favourable omen, and imports much good to the
dreamer; expect to be successful in your
undertakings.  If a maiden dreams that she is foolish, it
is a certain sign that she will soon be married to the
youth of her affections.

But perhaps of all the outrageous things that
a lady can be expected to dream about, the most
wonderfully unlikely is her own backbone.  Yet
this contingency is thought by our sage to be
worthy of especial notice.

To dream of the backbone is a lucky omen; it
denotes health and prosperity in all your
undertakings; if you are in love, your sweetheart will be
faithful, and you are very near marrying; it also
denotes that you will have many children, and be
very happy. To dream you have grown strong in
your back denotes that some legacy will fall to you,
and that you will unexpectedly become rich; if you
are in love, you will marry the object of your
affections; to a man it denotes that he will shortly
see the woman who is to be his wife; and to a
woman, that she will soon see the man destined to
be her husband, and they will become rich, and be
very happy.

We will give a few more quotations from our
oracle for the reader's comfort and advantage,
begging, in passing, to call bis attention to the
patriarchal manner in which this interpreter of
dreams invariably connects happiness and a large
family as inseparable things.

KITTENS.—To dream of kittens is a favourable
dream, your marriage will be prosperous, and that
yon will have many children.

DRUNKENNESS.—To dream you are drunk is loss