BY THOMAS PARKER, F.G.S. 27 



I may here relate an interesbing test I had the oppor- 

 tunit}^ of making of the work of a divining-rod practitioner. 

 One of these had apphed to the South Australian Govern- 

 ment to be appointed as water finder. The matter was 

 referred to me for inquiry and report. I proceeded with 

 the diviner and a number of interested visitors to the Plain 

 of Adelaide. After a locality was selected for the test 

 the operator moved about with the rod held in his hands 

 in the usual way. At the bending down of the forked 

 twig at certain spots 1 had pegs driven to mark the places. 

 I next proposed to sink bore holes at these spots marked 

 by the pegs, having with me some men and boring appliances. 



Before beginning the borings I asked the practitioner 

 of the rod what was his opinion about the points which 

 the rod had passed over without turning down. Did he 

 consider water could be found under these places ? After 

 having this question put to him more than once, the operator 

 at length declined to answer. Several of the visitors from 

 other States agreed with me that it was a fair inquiry 

 to make. The onh^ reph^ obtainable w^as : He considered 

 it was only a catch question. 



I then had borings made, both at the points marked 

 by the pegs and at two other points where the rod passed 

 over without turning down. The result was that, the ground 

 being soft and the boring easy, water was soon reached, 

 being found at a shallow depth. The borings went on, 

 and water was reached at a similar depth at all the places, 

 as water prevailed under the locality generally. 



The conclusion I arrived at was that the turning 

 down of a divining rod, by whatever force it may be pro- 

 duced, is not a reliable guide to the presence of water 

 under the surface at the spot where the rod turns down. 



Underground Water Explorations Scientifically 



Guided. 



A very important question may be asked here. What 

 progress has been made in Australia towards a scientific 

 method of exploring for underground water supplies, artesian 

 or otherwise, previous to sinking or boring ? As far as I 

 have ascertained neither America nor Australia can report 

 much progress towards a solution of the problem. In a 



