EXPECTANT ATTENTION MUSCULAR MOVEMENTS. 923 



ing the rod for some time in the required position, and of attending to its indi- 

 cations, is sufficient to produce a tendency to spasmodic contraction in the 

 grasping muscles, notwithstanding a strong effort of the will to the contrary ; 

 and when, by such contractions, the limbs of the fork are made to approximate 

 towards or to separate from each other, the point of the fork will be caused to 

 move either upwards or downwards, according to the position in which it is 

 held. If, when the muscles have this tendency to contract, occasioned by their 

 continued restraint in one position, the mind be possessed with the expectation 

 that a certain movement will ensue, that movement will actually take place, 

 even though a strong effort may be made by the Will to prevent any change in 

 the condition of the muscles. And a sufficient ground for such expectation 

 exists, on the part of those who are possessed with the idea of the peculiar 

 powers of the divining-rod, in the belief, or even in the surmise, that water or 

 metal may be beneath particular points of the surface over which they pass. 1 



1 This was admitted even by Dr. H. Mayo, notwithstanding his belief in the existence 

 of an " Od-force," governing the movements of the divining-rod. For he found, in the 

 course of his experiments, that when his "diviner" knew which way he expected the fork 

 to move, it invariably answered his expectations ; but when he had the man blindfolded, 

 the results were uncertain and contradictory. Hence he became certain that several of 

 those in whose hands the divining-rod moves, set it in motion, and direct its motion (how- 

 ever unintentionally and unconsciously) by the pressure of their fingers, and by carrying 

 their hands nearer to or apart from each other. (See his Letters " On the Truths con- 

 tained in Popular Superstitions," Letter i.) The following statement of the results 

 obtained by a very intelligent friend of the Author, who took up the inquiry some years 

 ago, with a strong prepossession (derived from the assurances of men of high scientific note) 

 in favor of the reality of the supposed influence, but yet with a desire to investigate the 

 whole matter carefully and philosophically for himself, will serve as a complete illustration 

 of the doctrine enunciated above. Having duly provided himself with a hazel-fork, he set 

 out upon a survey of the neighborhood in which he happened to be staying on a visit ; this 

 district was one known to be traversed by mineral veins, with the direction of some of 

 which he was acquainted. With his " divining-rod" in his hand, and with his attention 

 closely fixed upon his instrument of research, he walked forth upon his experimental tour; 

 and it was not long before, to his great satisfaction, he observed the point of the fork to 

 be in motion, at the very spot where he knew that he was crossing a metallic lode. For 

 many less cautious investigators, this would have been enough ; but it served only to 

 satisfy this gentleman that he was a favorable subject for the trial, and to stimulate him 

 to further inquiry. Proceeding in his walk, and still holding his fork secundum artem, he 

 frequently noticed its point in motion, and made a record of the localities in which this 

 occurred. He repeated these trials on several consecutive days, until he had pretty 

 thoroughly examined the neighborhood, going over some parts of it several times. When 

 he came to compare and analyze the results, he found that there was by no means a 

 satisfactory accordance amongst them ; for there were many spots over which the rod had 

 moved on one occasion, at which it had been obstinately stationary on others, and vice 

 versa ; so that the constancy of a physical agency seemed altogether wanting. Further, 

 he found that, whilst some of the spots over which the rod had moved were those known 

 to be traversed by mineral veins, there were many others in which its indications had been 

 no less positive, but in which those familiar with the mining geology of the neighborhood 

 were well assured that no veins existed. On the other hand, the rod had remained motion- 

 less at many points where it ought to have moved, if its direction had been affected by any 

 kind of terrestrial emanation. These facts led the experimenter to a strong suspicion that 

 the cause existed in himself alone ; and carrying out his experiments still further, he 

 ascertained that he could not hold the fork in his hand for many minutes consecutively, 

 concentrating his attention fixedly upon it, without an alteration in the direction of its 

 point, in consequence of an involuntary though almost imperceptible movement of his 

 hands ; so that in the greater number of instances in which the rod exhibited motion, the 

 phenomenon was clearly attributable to this cause, and it was a matter of pure accident 

 whether the movement took place over a mineral vein, or over a blank spot. But further 

 he ascertained on a comparison of his results, that the movement took place more fre- 

 quently where he knew or suspected the existence of mineral veins, than in other situa- 

 tions ; and thus he came, without any knowledge of the theory of expectant attention, to the 

 practical conclusion that the actions of his nerves and muscles were in great degree re- 

 gulated by the ideas which possessed his mind. 



