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Professor Barrett in an article which appears in the Proceedings 
of the Society for Psychical Research, dated July, 1897, under the 
_ head “ Theoretical Conclusions ” on the so called divining rod, says, 
_ “Few will dispute the proposition that the motion of the forked 
_ twig is due to unconscious muscular action.” Again. “ The recent 
- discovery of a new type of obscure radiation from certain bodies, 
‘such as uranium salts, and also from numerous common bodies, 
with which we are surrounded, renders it conceivable that a 
radiation, to which opaque bodies are permeable, may be emitted 
by water and metals, which unconsciously impresses some 
persons.” Again. ‘In other cases an impression from without 
appears to be gained nof through the ordinary channels of 
sensation. Thought transference will, I believe, be found to 
receive remarkable confirmation from experiments with the 
dowsing rod. Again. The fact that the water must be running 
and not stagnant, suggests that hearing, or possibly a slight 
tremor produced by the running water, may be the means 
whereby the desired information is picked up by the sub-conscious 
or secondary self.” 
Remarks. You see from these extracts how a highly scientific 
professor hunts about for some explanation of the divining rod, 
and up to the present all investigation has failed to reveal the true 
cause of the dowser’s faculty. 
_ I must here state that Mr. Vaughan Jenkins, in his letter to me, 
has made a mistake in saying that an ordinary needle will not 
float on water. A magnetized and an unmagnetized needle will 
float equally well. 
qj 
