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commonly known in these parts as a " dowser," and his 

 instrument as a " dowsing rod " or " twig." It is usually a 

 forked branch of hazel, of from two to three feet in length, and 

 shaped like the letter "V." But other mediums are sometimes 

 used ; among others a steel watch spring, forked rods of iron or 

 brass wire, &c. The dowser's method of procedure to find 

 water, as witnessed by myself, is as follows : — He grasps a limb 

 of the twig firmly in each hand, the point where the limbs meet 

 being turned in a slanting direction towards the earth. He 

 carries the twig in front of him and proceeds slowly, necessarily 

 stooping somewhat to bring it as near as possible to the ground. 

 When he comes across running water the spot is supposed to 

 be marked, without any voluntary action on the part of the 

 diviner, by the twig jerking up and down, and, in some cases, 

 twisting round in the operator's hand. 



The following incident first drew my attention to this subject, 

 and is mainly accountable for my after-investigations : — Some 

 time ago I met a personal friend, Mr. William Brown, of 

 Middlehill House, Box, at the Board Koom of the G.W.R. 

 Company, at Bristol, whither we had both come to attend 

 a meeting, quite unconnected with either water or divining. 

 While we were waiting, some one called to see Mr. Brown, 

 and before this person left my friend asked me if I had ever 

 seen a water diviner, as he could show me one. I replied that 

 I had heard of such persons, but had never dropped across them. 

 He then introduced me to John MuUins, who, he said, had 

 been most successful in finding water on his property. After I 

 had had some conversation with MuUins, my friend asked him 

 to leave the room for a few moments. When he had done so 

 Mr. Brown informed me that, although MuUins would not bind 

 himself to find anything but water, he had had proof of his 

 capacity to discover hidden metal, and he would test it in my 

 presence. He then took three sovereigns from his purse and 

 placed them in a line, and several feet apart, underneath the 



