Chapter LV, Section 1d

Hence it was accounted a thing of great concernment amongst the ancients as oft as any thing unusual was found in the inwards, as when Sylla was sacrificing at Laurentum, the figure of a crown appeared in the head of the liver, which Posthumius, the soothsayer, interpreted to portend a victory with a kingdom, and therefore advised that Sylla should eat those entrails himself. The color, also, of the inwards is to be considered. Of these Lucan made mention: Struck at the color Prophets were with fear, For with foul spots pale entrals tinged were. Both black and blue, with specks of sprinkled blood They were— There was in times past such a venerable esteem of these arts that the most potent and wise men sought after them; yea, the senate and kings did nothing without the counsel of the Augures. But all these in these days are abolished, partly by the negligence of men and partly by the authority of the fathers.