The daily sentinel., 1901-02-06
THE OWNING ROD.
THE MYSTERY OF THE FORKED
TWIo IS EXPLAINED.
Possession Of . supsr-Normal Faculty
the Most satisfactory Theory Regard
ing the Discovery Of Water with
Witch 4Akol TWig.

The second installment OF an elabo-
rate report by Prof. w. F. Barrett on
the "so-callsd divining rod" has Just
made its appearance. Prof. Barrett is
a member Of the Royal Society, occu-
pies tho chair Of experimental physics
in the Royal College of Science for Ire
land at Dublin, and has taken an active
part in the work Of the Society for
Physical Research. Three or four years
ago Prot. Barrett undertook a thor
ough investigation of the subject, COL
lecting all the stories he could obtain
regarding the use of for}ed twig for
the discovery Of water and minerals.
sitting them carefully, seeking such
corroboratton as might be available,
and planning experiments OF his own.
The first part OF his report, which
came out in 1898. cited 152 cases. The
second furnishes many more, some of
them having been conducted under
Prof. Barrett's own supervision. A
third installment is promised and will
deal largely with the hunt for metals
with the diviniRg rod. In describing
the operation Of "dowsing," as this use
of the forked witch hazel twig is To-
cally 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 inclines
upward slightly. When the dowser
passes spot where water is supposed
to exist the twig rises to a vertical po-
sition, striking him on the breast. The
dowser himself often appears exhaust
ed by his effort, even complaining OF
sickness or giddiness and breaking
into perspirat1on. These are SO marked
in instances that he discards the twig
altogether, and Is guided by his sensa-
tions alone. During the operation the
dowser fixes his attention on the tip
Of the twig and becomes oblivious to
the world around him. Eminent peo-
pie as well as those who are not con-
spicuous in public life in England en-
.ploy dowsers. Prof Barrett includes
Lords Salisbury and Lansdowne among
their patrons. There are scores of pro-
feesional dowsers in the United King
dom, to say nothing of Continental
Europe. the United States and Canada.
Amateurs also practice the art. In
his first report Prof. Barrett pro-
nounced fairly successful 14O of the $50
attempts recorded. Two sets Of ex-
periments have been tried with view
to ascertain the genuineness OF the
phenomenon. In one a second or third
operator was taken over the same
ground as the frst. and the results OF
their divination were identical and
successful. Some of the leading spirits
OF the Society for Psychical Research
hold that when the ordinary senses are
lulled to inactivity by sleep. natural or
hypnotic. 4 few persons Of peculiar
organization exhibit power of per-
ception and susceptibility to infiu-
ence which is unlike that experienced
by other people or by the same people
under other circumstances. Prof. Bar
rett regards this possession OF "su-
per-normal' faculty the most satisfac-
tory theory regarding the discovery OF
water with a witch hazel twig. He
thinks that the successful operator is
self-hypnotized by fixing his attention
on the twig. He says: This sub-con-
scious perceptive power, commonly
called 'clairvoyance.' may Professionally
be taken as the explanation OF those
successes Of the dowser which are in
explicable on any grounds at present
known to science."-San Francisco
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