arth's surface, by means of a sort of
attraction; and such critical works as Robert Boyle's (1663), or the
_Mineralogia Cornubiensis_ of Pryce (1778), admitted its value in
discovering metals. But as mining declined in Cornwall, the use of the
dowser for searching for lodes almost disappeared, and was transferred
to water-finding. The divining-rod has, however, also been used for
searching for any buried objects. In the south of France, in the 17th
century, it was employed in tracking criminals and heretics. Its abuse
led to a decree of the Inquisition in 1701, forbidding its employment
for purposes of justice.

In modern times the professional dowser is a "water-finder," and there
has been a good deal of investigation into the possibility of a
scientific explanation of his claims to be able to locate underground
water, where it is not known to exist, by the use of a forked hazel-twig
which, twisting in his hands, leads him by its directing-power to the
place where a boring should be made. Whether justified or not, a
widespread faith exists, based no doubt on frequent success, in the
dowser's power; and Professor Barrett (_The Times_, January 21, 1905)
states that "making a liberal allowance for failures of which I have not
heard, I have no hesitation in saying that where fissure water exists
and the discovery of underground water sufficient for a domestic supply
is a matter of the utmost difficulty, the chances of success with a good
dowser far exceed mere lucky hits, or the success obtained by the most
skilful observer, even with full knowledge of the local geology." Is
this due to any special faculty in the dowser, or has the twig itself
anything to do with it? Held in balanced equilibrium, the forked twig,
in the dowser's hands, moves with a sudden and often violent motion, and
the appearance of actual life in the twig itself, though regarded as
mere stage-play by some, is popularly associated with the cause of the
water-finder's success. The theory that there is any direct connexion
("sympathy" or electrical influence) between the divining-rod and the
water or metal, is however repudiated by modern science. Professor
Barrett, who with Professor Janet and others is satisfied that the rod
twists without any intention or voluntary deception on the part of the
dowser, ascribes the phenomenon to "motor-automatism" on the part of the
dowser (see AUTOMATISM), a reflex action excited by some stimulus upon
his mind, which m