The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-12-16
THE OWNING ROD MYSTERY.
Explanation OF His Enquiries by un
English Professor.

The second installment of an elaborat
report by Prof w. F. Barrett on the 80
called Givining rod has Just made ii.
appearance. Professor Barrett is a mem
Der Of the Royal Society. occupies the
chair OF experimental physics in the Roy.
al College of Science sor ireland. at Dub
lin, and has taken an active part in tn,
work of the Society for Psychical Re
search.
Three or four years ago. Professor Bar
| rett undertook a thorough investigation
OF the subject. collecting all the stories
he could obtain regarding the use If a
forked twiS for the discovery OF water
and minerals, shifting them carefully
seeking such confederation as might be
available and planning experiments OF bis
own. The first part OF his report, which
came out in 1928, cited l52 cases. The
second furnished many more, some OF
! them having been conducted under Pro-
lessor Barrett's own supervision A third
ins,ailment is promised, and will deal
largely with the hunt for metals with the
| divining rod.
In describing the operation OF dow
sing" as this use of the fcrked witch
| hazel twig is locally called in England.
| Prof. Barrett says that the operator
| usually holds the by the prongs. SO
that the stem projects in front of him
| and inc,ines upward slightly. when he
dowser passes a spot where water is sup
posed to exist the twig rises to a yerti-
cal position, striking him on the breast.
The dowser himself often appears ex-
hausted by his efforts, even complaining
of sickness OF giddiness, and breaking
into perspiration. These are so marked
in instances that he discards the tw:g
altogether and is guided by his sensations
alone. During the operation the dowser
fixes his attention on the tip of the twig
and becomes oblivious to the world
around him.
Eminent people as well as those who
are not conspicuous in public life in Eng
land employ dowsers. Pref. Barrett in
cludes Lord Salisbury and Landsdownc
among their patrons. There are scores
Of professional dowsers in the United
Kingdom, to say nothing of continental
Europe. the United States, and Canada.
Amateurs also practice the art. In his
first report Prof. Barrett pronounced
fairly successful 40 Of the $50 attempts
recorded. Rejecting the experiments of
amateurs, he gets 50 successful
results out of 105 cases. In the second
report he finds the proportion about the
same, but he admits that dowsers may
not report their failures so fully and
frankly as their hits. Still he does not
10 per cent of the attempts.
Two sets of experiments have been tried
with a view to ascertain the genuineness
OF the phenomenon. In one second or
third operator was taken over the same
grounds as the first. and the results Of
their divination were identical and sue
cessful. Some Of the leading spirits in
the Society for Phychical Research hold
that when the ordinary senses are lulled |
10 inactivity by sleep, natural or hypnotic,
a few persons OF peculiar organization
exhibit a power Of perception and sus-
ceptiblity to influence which is unlike that |
experienced by other people or by the |
same people under other circumstances. |
Prof Barrett regards this possession Of |
"supernormal' faculty the most satisfac-
tory theory regarding the discovery Of wa !
ter with a witch hazel twig. He thinks |
that the successful operator is self-hypno-
tized by fixing his attention on the twig ne
says: This conscious perceptive pow
er. commonly called 'clairvoyance.' may
be taken as the explanation
Of those successes OF the dowser which are
inexplicable on any grounds at present
known to science cd