New-York tribune., 1900-11-18

leurS also practise the art In his first report
Professor Barrett pronounced fairly successful
Ifo OF the l12 attempts recorded Rejecting the
experiments of amateurs. he gets - successful
results out of 1OJ cases. In the second re-
port he finds the proportion about the same
nut ne admits that doWseYs may not report
ther failures 50 fully and frankly as their hits
sui, he does not estimate the failures at more
than I'D or II per cent of the attempts
TWO sets of experiments have been tried with
view to ascertain the senunencss Of the
phenomenon. In one second third operator
was taken over the same ground as the first and
the results of their divination were compared
The scene OF of these tests was in County
Wicklow. Ireland. hill called Carrigoona
The place was selected on the advice of a
trained geologist. to lack any indications
OF water that might be suggestive to a prac-
Used eye professional dowser from Eng
ana was imported, without any knowledge Of
the spot chosen any chance to obtain in
formation regarding it. First, the professional
diViner was taken two fields and then an
amateur of note. Pains were taken to conceal
from the latter the conclusions of the former
Both. however. reported favorably on one field
and adversely on the other. and they agreed rs
t. the exact spot where water should be found.
a well was dug there, and water gushcd out
at less than the prescribed depth. Another hole
was stink in a second place. which looked
promising to the unskilled eye but where the
dowsers declared it was of to dig. and
nothing was discovered although the hole was
pushed to greater depth than the other. In
nearly all the case, where two or more dow
sers were tried independently in the same
place, their testimony concurrcd.
Again, man would be taken over Il field 4
second time, having been blindfoldcd. and Id
about circuitousIy that recollection was haf-
fled. In these cases a general but not absolute
| coincidence in the findings was noted. Apropps
of hlndfoldinG. Professor Barrett remarks upon
a test made some years ago by Professor Ray
Lancaster. The subject of the experiment was Il
lad, and bndfodng followed by failure
Hence the great naturalist declared the whole
business fraud. The Dublin professor pro-
! tests against so broad conclusion from sin
gle instance, and further argues that one essen
tial was overlooked by Professor Lancaster
If the subject of The test is psychcally sensitive
it is necessary that he should consent To every
detail of the experiment and that his mind
should be at ease. Such was not the case with
the lad tested hy Professor Lankester.
SEIF-HYPNOTISM
The most interesting and novel part of Pro-
fessor Harrett's report relates to the explain
ations that have been offered of the discovery
of water with forked twig. He rejects the
notion that any purely physical force, like mag
netism, is at work. In some cases there was
room for suspicion that the previously secure
information the looks of the land or hints
Willingly or unwittnSy furnished by others
might have guided the doWser, but in others
the conditions wer~ so shaped as to preclude
these possibilities.
Neither does Professor Barrett believe that the
twig is twisted by an exercise of the dowser's
Will Instead he attributes the movement to an
unconscious and Involuntary contraction of the
muscles of the fingers while the operator is in
a trancelike or semi-cataeptic state. Entirely
| aside from this particular class of perform
nervous system which makes the muscles move,
the motor mechanism is often called into
play without either Voltion consciousness,
that up to this point there is nothing remarkable
in Professor Barretts theory. But the way in
which the motor mechanism is excited is
of the explanation may not be generally rec
ngnZed Some of the leading spirits in the So
ccty for PsyChical Research hold that when the
ordinary senses are lulled to inactivity by sleep.
natural or hypnotic, few persons of a peculiar
organization exhibit Il power of perception and
! susceptibility to influence which is unlike
that experienced by other people. or the same
people under other circumstances. Professor
Barrett regards this possession of super
normal" faculty the most satisfactory theory re-
Gardmg the discovery OF water with a witch
hazel tWig. He thinks that the successful oper-
: II ion