Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-05-22
THE DIvINING ROD MYSTERY

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AAsstitaAtthftN "FAA~af
Tho second iusrallnl@nf ~ an olahor-
ata report by Prof W. r. Barrett .u
tn. "so-call-d diViniuE rod has just
made .tA appearance Prnf. barrett i;
a member az the ROYAL Society. Drtti-
pies the chair 81 exp riuontai physics
IN tie Royal cuiIcr" NJ Science !ot II .-
Iana sc Dublin and has tll,-n an a,firc
part in The work No yhc Society fcr
Physical Research.
Thr," or four years ag" Prof Ea--
rctt undertook u thorough iutr7tIs ~
ton OF TIE subject collecting aii me
stories he could obtain r.Earlmf the
Use ~ Il fuTkrd t-aig FOR the discovery
of water lad minerals. sitting Them
carefully. sc, King such confederation
MS might he available ana planning *
p.rim,nts ~ hin own. Tn" fist pant
~ his report. which came out IN 1888.
cited IL cases. The second FURNISH
many more. somc nf th.m having bt- u
conducted under prof Barr"tt's pwn
supervision. \ third ingtallmcnt is
promised ana win deal largely aith
the hunt for metals with the diyiLirg
rod
In describing the operation n "auws-
iIiE. IS lUl@ utt' ga talf' 4ttt EN't- NJ itt -
hazel twig ~ locally called III England.
Prof. Barrett says that the operator
usually holds the y hy the prunc-. ~
that the stem projects in front 81 Him
and inClincs slightly. when the 9ows-
at passes o spot where water IL sup
posed To exist the twig> rises 70 4 YER
teal position. striking him on the
breast. The ,iowse- himself often 1p-
pears exhausted hy his effort. even
complaining If sickness or ridiinrss
and breaking into pcrSpiration. These
are SO marked in Instances that he dis
cards the twig altogether ana is giid-
ed by his sensations alone. During
the operation the dowser fixes his at
tention on the tip Of the twig ana DC
comes oblivious to the world around
him.
Eminent people as well rs those who
are not cnnSnCunus IN public life in
England tmplay dowscrs. Pycf. Bar
rctt includes Lords Salisbury cnl
Lansdowne among their patrons.
There are scores of professional dnws-
ers in the United Kingdom, TO say
nothing of continental Europe, the
United States and canada. Amateurs
also practic" tho art. In his first .'o-
port Prof. Barrett pronounced fairly
successful 40 of the 80 attempts re-
corded. Rejecting tie experiments of
amateurs. ne gets - successful re-
suits out of l05 eases. In the second
report he finds the proportion about
the same. but he admits that dowsers
may not report their failures So Gully
and frankly as their hits. Still lie does
~ -..ts ~,
10 to Il per cent. of the attempts.
Two sets Of experiments have boon
tried with n view to ascertain tho gen
uineness of the phenomenon. In one
second or third operator was taken
over the same ground as the first. ana
the results Of their livining were iden-
teal ana successful. Some of the
leading spirits in the Society for
PSychicll Research hold that Mnen The
ordinary senses are lullcd to inactivity
by sleep. natural or hypnotic. few
persons of a peculiar organization ~
hibit power of perception and 4 sue-
ceptibility to influence which is uniike
that experienced by other people or by
the same people under other circum-
stances. Prof. Barrett regards this
possession of "supernormar' faculty
the most satisfactory theory regarding
the discovery of water with u witch
hazel tWig. He thinks that the .uc-
cessful operator Is sclf-hypnotizcd nv
iXing his attention on the twig lie
says: This subconscious perCeptive
power. commonly called 'clairvoyance.
may Professionally be taken as the OK
PLANTATION OF those successes Of The
uOWScr which -
grounds at present known to science"