in ancient Rome to identify thieves. A rare, obsolete meaning of alectryomancy is "a divination by a cock-stone". A cock-stone or alectoria was "a christall coloured stone (as big as a beane) found in the gyzerne, or maw of some cockes" (Cotgrave). These stones, purportedly found in a rooster's crop, were known to the Romans (in Latin they were called , literally "cock's gem") and were imputed with magical powers. Apparently, they were used for some sort of lithomantic divination, though the details of this use are not to be found. References Page, M. Ingpen, R. Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were. New York: Viking Studio Books 1987. External links Alectryomancy Divination Glossary Word Info Divination