WATER DIVINING GREGORY 333 



natural explanation of the curved pond on the northeastern slope of 

 the hill would be that it is fed by percolation from a water-bearing 

 bed on the hilltop. 



The second case, which Barrett and Besterman describe as " one 

 of the strongest we possess," was at Waterford. A series of wells had 

 been sunk into steeply tilted beds of slate and grit, but without full 

 success. Mullins recommended a line shown in the section (fig. 7) 

 nearer the eastern (99 ft.) outcrop of the slates. Water running 

 down from Gallows Hill would collect in the drifts and drain north- 

 ward to the River Suir at right angles to the section. The deepest 

 part of the drift-filled valley crossed by this section would be 

 normally, owing to the slope of the land and the dip of the slate, 

 near the 99-foot outcrop. Water would collect in this depression 

 and soak into any porous rock beneath. The well, according to 

 the section, entered a trough-shaped infold of grit which would 

 serve as a reservoir for water that percolated from the overlying 

 drift. It yielded an average of 1,560 gallons per hour (later re- 

 ported to jaeld 2,000 gallons), whereas the next well (B) yielded 

 only 230 gallons an hour, which, being inadequate, was regarded as 

 a failure. The three wells put down before Mullins' trials passed 

 through slate and the upper parts of the beds of grit, in which there 

 would be nothing to hold the water. Mullins' line lay along the 

 most likely position in which to get water from the overlying drifts, 

 as from them it could soak into the underlying rocks. Mullins had this 

 clue, and had the good luck to strike the infold of grit which gave 

 the large supply.^ 



The third case is that at Carrigoona to the south of Dublin, The 

 diviner was William Stone, and the test was under the direct super- 

 vision of Sir William Barrett. Barrett and Besterman put it for- 

 ward as conclusive proof of the reality of dowsing. William Stone, 

 after going over the ground, said that plenty of water would be 

 found anywhere along a marked line (which is presumably the 

 line 1 — 3 in Figure 8, though it is stated in the text to be the dotted 

 line on their Figure 20 which is not reproduced, and for which the 

 statement would appear improbable). Good water was found as 

 Stone had predicted, at his sites 1 and 3, and very little at bore 

 2. Sir William Barrett was emphatic that Stone paid little atten- 

 tion to the surface features; but the line he chose was that which 

 I think any person experienced in finding water would have selected 

 from obvious surface indications. The adjacent bed rock (quart- 

 zite) is marked on the map as outcropping on both the eastern and 

 western sides of the field, which lies on a drift-filled valley. The 

 position No. 2 would be obviously unfavorable as it is only 10 



s Professor Sollas tells me that the success iu this case was shown to be pure luck by 

 the failures by which this dowser distinguished himself shortly afterwards. 



