Behind the Divining Rod

Abstract

I HAVE every sympathy with Prof. Sollas and with all geologists whose scientific studies have been impudently challenged by ignorant charlatans. But I have met one honest and modest dowser who never exercised his powers for payment and had no theory as to the nature of the faculty which he believed he possessed. From the cases described by Sir William Barrett, it appears that there are other dowsers who are honest, and it really seems to me that the cause of the dowser's sensations which may lead to the discovery of water is as worthy of study as, say, the polarisation of light that may be used for the microscopic determination of mineral. Theinvestigation may, I think, be better undertaken in either case by specialists who are not concerned with the applications. If there is anything in water-divining, I am sure that it is not occult in the sense of “involving the supernatural, mystical, magical,” and if it be occult in the sense of being “beyond the range of ordinary knowledge” (both definitions are given in the Concise Oxford Dictionary) I only urge that efforts should be made to extend that range as it has been extended in recent years to clear up other obscure phenomena.