84 NOTES ON ESSEX DIALECT AND FOLK-LORE. 



But scientific men who have bestowed any care or examination 

 of nature regard this alleged power as an unconscious delusion, 

 ascribing the whole phenomenon to the effect of a strong impression 

 on the mind acting through the agency of the nerves and muscle?. 

 Let anyone try the experiment. Hold the two branches of the fork 

 as loosely as possible about 6 inches from the angle. At first one 

 points over each shoulder, then without clenching the fist turn the 

 hands till the backs are towards the ground, keeping them about 

 6 inches apart. It will be seen that, however loosely the twigs are 

 held, they become a little twisted, and that the slightest movement 

 of the hands will make the fork fly up and down again at pleasure. 

 Another method is to hold the small ends in the hands in a position 

 parallel to the horizon and the upper part at an elevation having an 

 angle of 70°. The rod must be strongly grasped and steadily held, 

 and then the operator walks over the ground. When he crosses a 

 lode or spring, its bending is supposed to indicate the presence 

 thereof. The position of the hands in holding the rod is a con- 

 strained one ; it is not easy to describe it, but the result is that the 

 hands, from the weariness speedily induced in the muscles, grasp 

 the end of the twig yet more rigidly, and then is produced the 

 mysterious bending. The phenomena of the rod and table turning 

 are of precisely the same character, and both are referable to an 

 involuntary muscular action, resulting from a fixedness of idea. 



But, in the opinion of the ancient experts, the operation of the 

 rod depended upon many special conditions. It was always to be 

 used after sunset and before sunrise, and only on certain nights, 

 among which are specified — -Good Friday, Epiphany, Shrove Tues- 

 day, St. John's Day, and the first night of a new moon or that 

 preceding it. In cutting a rod one must face the east, so that it shall 

 have caught the first rays of the morning sun, or, as some say, the 

 eastern or western sun must shine through the fork, otherwise it will 

 be good for nothing. 



It must not be thought that no scientific (so-called) reason has 

 been given to account for this supposed power. I trust the fol- 

 lowing may be understood : — 



It is stated " that the corpuscles rising from the springs or 

 minerals entering the rod determine it to bow down in order to 

 make it parallel to the vertical lines which the effiuvia describe in 

 their rise. In effect the mineral or water particles are supposed to 

 be emitted by means of the suhterrancous heat or of ihc fermenta- 



