Coscinomancy

Coscinomancy, an ancient mode of divination by means of a sieve (Gr. koskinon) and a pair of shears. It appears to have been chiefly employed for the discovery of thieves. The sieve was supported or suspended by means of the shears, in some way not easily understood; a certain mystical form of words was then used, and the names of the suspected persons being mentioned in succession, at the name of the thief the sieve moved or turned round.