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In Cornwall, the divining-rod is still employed by miners to 

 discover the presence of mineral wealth ; in Lancashire and Cum- 

 berland, the belief in the powers of the magic wand is widely 

 spread ; and in Wiltshire, it is used for detecting water. The 

 Virgula divin-atoria is also frequently in requisition both in Italy and 

 France. Experts will tell you that, in order to ensure success, 

 certain mystic rites must be performed at the cutting of the 

 rod: this must be done after sunset and before sunrise, and 

 only on certain special nights, among which are those of Good 

 Friday, Epiphany, Shrove-Tuesday, and St. John's Day, the first 

 night of a new moon, or that preceding it. In cutting the divining- 

 rod, the operator must face the East, so that it shall be one which 

 catches the first rays of the morning sun, or it will be valueless. 

 These conditions, it will be found, are similar to those contained in 

 the Hindu Vedas, and still enforced by the Chinese. Some English 

 experts are of opinion that a twig of an Apple-tree may be used 

 as successfully as a Hazel wand — but it must be of twelve months' 

 growth. The seventh son of a seventh son is considered to be the 

 .most fitting person to use the rod. In operating, the small ends, 

 being crooked, are to be held in the hands in a position flat or 

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

 an angle to it of about seventy degrees. The rod must be grasped 

 strongly and steadily, and then the operator walks over the 

 ground : when he crosses a lode, its bending is supposed to indi- 

 cate the presence thereof. According to Vallemont, the author of 

 a treatise on the divining-rod, published towards the end of the 

 seventeenth century, its use was not merely confined to indicate 

 metal or water, but it was also employed in tracking criminals ; 

 and an extraordinary story is told of a Frenchman who, guided 

 by his rod, "pursued a murderer, by land, for a distance exceeding 

 forty-five leagues, besides thirty leagues more by water." 



From an article in the ' Quarterly Review,' No. 44, the state- 

 ments in which were vouched by the Editor, it would seem that a 

 Lady Noel possessed the faculty of using the divining-rod. In 

 operating, this lady " took a thin forked Hazel-twig, about sixteen 

 inches long, and held it by the end, the joint pointing downwards. 

 When she came to the place where the water was under the 

 ground, the twig immediately bent; and the motion was more or 

 less rapid as she approached or withdrew from the spring. When 

 just over it, the twig turned so quick as to snap, breaking near the 

 fingers, which, by pressing it, were indented and heated, and 

 almost blistered ; a degree of agitation was also visible in her face. 

 The exercise of the faculty is independent of any volition." 



In Germany, the divining-rod is often called the wishing-rod, 

 and as it is by preference cut from the Blackthorn, that tree is 

 known also as the Wishing Thorn. In Prussia, the Hazel rod must 

 be cut in Spring to have its magical qualities thoroughly deve- 

 loped. When the first thunderstorm is seen to be approaching, 



