a species of divination, performed by means of fortés or lots.

The fortés prenelling, famous in antiquity, consisted in putting a number of letters, or even whole words, into an urn; and then, after shaking them together, they were thrown on the ground, and whatever sentences could be made out from them constituted the answer of the oracle.

Another kind of fortés consisted in taking some celebrated poet, as Homer or Virgil; and, opening the book, whatever presented itself first to the eye made the answer; and hence it got the name of fortés homericæ, and fortés virgiliæ, &c.

The superstitious among the ancient Christians practiced a similar kind of divination, by opening the Old and New Testament; whence it got the name of fortés sanctorum.