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matter of more than mythological or superstitious interest. The Schlagruthe (striking-rod), or forked twig of the German miners, was brought to See also:

England by those engaged in the Cornish mines by the See also:

MERCHANT (O. Fr. marcheant, modern marchand; from Lat. mercari, to trade, merx, goods, merchandise)

merchant venturers of See also:

Queen See also:

Elizabeth's See also:

day. See also:

PROFESSOR (the Latin noun formed from the verb profiteri, to declare publicly, to acknowledge, profess)

Professor W. F. See also:

Barrett, F.R.S., the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief modern investigator of this subject, regards its employment, dating as it does from the revival of learning, as based on the medieval See also:

DOCTRINE

doctrine of " sympathy," the drooping of trees and See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of the vegetation being considered to give indications of See also:

MINERAL

mineral lodes beneath the earth's See also:

SURFACE

surface, by means of a sort of attraction; and such See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical See also:

WORKS

works as See also:

Robert See also:

Boyle's (1663), or the Mineralogia Cornubiensis of Pryce (1778), admitted its value in discovering metals.

Butas mining declined in See also:

CORNWALL

Cornwall, the use of the dowser for searching for lodes almost disappeared, and was transferred to water-finding. The divining-rod has, however, also been used for searching for any buried See also:

OBJECTS

objects. In the See also:

south of See also:

France, in the 17th century, it was employed in tracking criminals and heretics. Its abuse led to a See also:

DECREE (from the past participle, decretus, of Lat. decernere)

decree of the See also:

INQUISITION, THE (Lat. inquisitio, an inquiry)

Inquisition in 1701, forbidding its employment for purposes of See also:

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

justice. In modern times the professional dowser is a " water-finder," and there has been a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

DEAL

deal of investigation into the possibility of a scientific explanation of his claims to be able to locate under-ground water, where it is not known to exist, by the use of a forked hazel-twig which, twisting in his hands, leads him by its directing-See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power to the See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place where a See also:

BORING

boring should be made. Whether justified or not, a widespread faith exists, based no doubt on frequent success, in the dowser's power; and Professor Barrett (The Times, See also:

JANUARY

January 21, 1905) states that " making a liberal See also:

ALLOWANCE (from "allow,' derived through 0. Fr. alouer from the two Lat. origins adlaudare, to praise, and allocare, to assign a place; so that the English word combined the general idea of "assigning with approval")

allowance for failures of which I have not heard, I have no hesitation in saying that where fissure water exists and the See also:

DISCOVERY

discovery of underground water sufficient for a domestic See also:

SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply is a matter of the utmost difficulty, the chances of success with a good dowser far exceed See also:

mere lucky hits, or the success obtained by the most skilful observer, even with full knowledge of the See also:

LOCAL

local See also:

GEOLOGY (from Gr. yp7, the earth, and Abyor, science)

geology." Is this due to any special See also:

FACULTY (through the French, from the Lat. facultas, ability to do anything, from facilis, easy, facere, to do; another form of the word in Lat. facilitas, facility, ease, keeps the original meaning)

faculty in the dowser, or has the twig itself anything to do with it ? Held in balanced See also:

EQUILIBRIUM (from the Lat. aequus, equal, and libra, a balance)

equilibrium, the forked twig, in the dowser's hands, moves with a sudden and often violent See also:

motion, and the See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance of actual See also:

LIFE

life in the twig itself, though regarded as mere See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage-See also:

PLAY

play by some, is popularly associated with the cause of the water-finder's success. The theory that there is any See also:

DIRECT

direct connexion (" sympathy" or See also:

electrical See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence) between the divining-rod and the water or See also:

metal, is however repudiated by modern See also:

SCIENCE (Lat. scientia, from scire; to learn, know)

science. Professor Barrett, who with Professor See also:

JANET, PAUL (1823—1899)

Janet and others is satisfied that the rod twists without any intention or voluntary deception on the part of the dowser, ascribes the phenomenon to " motor-See also:

AUTOMATISM

automatism " on the part of the dowser (see AUTOMATISM), a reflex See also:

ACTION

action excited by some stimulus upon his mind, which may be either a subconscious See also:

SUGGESTION

suggestion or an actual impression (obscure in its nature) from an See also:

EXTERNAL

external See also:

OBJECT

object or an external mind; both sorts of stimulus are possible, so that the dowser himself may make false inferences (and fail) by supposing that the stimulus is an external object (like water). The divining-rod being thus " an See also:

INDICATOR (from Lat. indicare, to point out)

indicator of any sub-conscious suggestion or impression," its indications, no doubt, may be fallacious; but Professor Barrett, basing his conclusions upon observed successes and their greater proportion to failures than anything that 1 La Baguette divinatoire (See also:

Paris, 1845). See also:

CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance could produce, advances the See also:

HYPOTHESIS (from Gr. inrorcOivat, to put under; cf. Lat. suppositio, from sub-ponere)

hypothesis that some persons (like the professional dowsers) possess " a genuine super-normal perceptive faculty," and that the mind of a good dowser, possessing the See also:

IDIOSYNCRASY (Gr. Ibwavyspavia, peculiar habit of body or temperament; 'lbws, one's own, and viryKpao , blending, tempering, from o-vyiepavvvoOat, to put together, compound, mix)

idiosyncrasy of motor-automatism, becomes a See also:

BLANK (from the Fr. blanc, white)

blank or tabula rasa, so that " the faintest impression made by the object searched for creates an involuntary or automatic motion of the indicator, whatever it may be." Like the " homing See also:

INSTINCT

instinct " of certain .birds and animals, the dowser's power lies beneath the level of any conscious See also:

PERCEPTION (from Lat. percipere, to perceive)

perception; and the See also:

FUNCTION

function of the forked twig is to See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act as an See also:

INDEX

index of some material or other See also:

MENTAL

mental disturbance within him,.which otherwise he could not interpret. It should be added that dowsers do not always use any rod.

Some again use a willow rod, or withy, others a hazel-twig (the traditional material), others a See also:

BEECH

beech or See also:

HOLLY (Ilex Aquifolium)

holly twig, or one from any other See also:

tree; others even a piece of See also:

WIRE (A.S. wir, a wire; cf. Swed. vire, to twist, M.H.G. wiere, a gold ornament, Lat. viriae, armlets, ultimately from the root wi, to twist, bind)

wire or See also:

WATCH (in O. Eng. wcecce, a keeping guard or watching, from wacian, to guard, watch, wacan, to wake)

watch-See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring. The best dowsers are said to have been generally more or less illiterate men, usually engaged in some humble vocation. See also:

Sir W. H. Preece (The Times, January 16, 1905), repudiating as an electrician the theory that any electric force is involved, has recorded his See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion that water-finding by a dowser is due to " See also:

MECHANICAL

mechanical vibration, set up by the See also:

FRICTION (from Lat. fricare, to rub)

friction of moving water, acting upon the sensitive ventral See also:

DIAPHRAGM (Gr. Scat/pay,aa, a partition)

diaphragm of certain exception-ally delicately framed persons." Another theory is that water-finders are exceptionally sensitive to hygrometric influences." In any See also:

case, modern science approaches the problem as one concerning which the facts have to be accepted, and explained by some :natural, though obscure, cause. See fot further details Professor Barrett's longer discussion in parts 32 (1897) and 38 (1900) of the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical See also:

RESEARCH (O. Fr. recerche, from recercher, re- and cercer, mod. chercher, to search; Late Lat. circare, to go round in a circle, to explore)

Research.

End of Article: DIVINING

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