The Divining Rod. 205 
excused without loss of confidence, upon the discovery of any 
mineral or vile ore in sinking the well. Traces of iron ore 
are almost universal in that part of our country, where the 
divining rod is in the highest repute ; and often serve eflectu- 
ally to conceal the diviner’s entire defeat. 
But the divining rod does not merely point out the site of 
the hidden fountain : it determines also its depth. This part 
of the science is equally wonderful and important. To know 
that water may be obtained by digging at a particular spot, 
is not enough. We must know more; that the fountain is 
within a reasonable depth. Accordingly, all men gifted with 
the use of the divining rod, have a way to determine the 
depth of the newly discovered fountain, if it be within fifty 
feet of the earth’s surface. us the inexplicable motions of 
a green twig in the hands of a rare man, serve, in the opinion 
of many, to point out the situation of a fountain in the midst 
of the dry land, and to ascertain its depth; and to point out 
veins of salt water with precision from 300 to 600 feet below 
the surface of the earth. The thing is incredible ; and it is 
equally incredible that the best men in the land should falsely 
maintain that the motions of the rod in their hands are entire- 
ly contrary to their own well-meant efforts. 
_ In 1820, I was at the residence of a respectable farmer in 
Ohio, and again in 1821, where I noticed a new well at an 
inconvenient distance from the house. I inquired why that 
spot had been chosen for a well. The farmer replied, that it 
had been selected by the divining rod. ‘* Ah! and who car- 
ried the rod?’’ He named the father of a large family, one 
take him with me, and make experiments. The lad was 
about 12 years of age, and his character of a diviner was es- 
tablished, where that of a prophet is last allowed: in his own 
family and among his own kindred. His youth was m0 rea- 
sonable objection to his possessing a peculiar natural gift ; 
and I hoped now to determine, whether the cause of the mo- 
a i in, di : common view, existed at the spot 
Fel a vinepesaeee "ithe diviner told the precise depth it would require 
fo reach the water: so said the farmer. 
