Excerpt from The Divining Rod: Virgula Divina-Baculus Divinatorius (Water-Witching) My Essay on the "Divining Rod," (vulgus, "Water-Witching,") having proved interesting to a number of my friends, I have concluded to give it to the public, with the hope that some useful practical results may be derived from it. I have no apology to make for presenting this subject in a serious light. I regard it as one strictly in the domain of science, and, therefore, worthy of the consideration of scientific men. I have no fear of ridicule, knowing for myself and "not for another," that what is here presented is the truth. To those who seek absolute truth, I need not recommend a reading of these pages. To those who merely live by science, drawing their sustenance from it as from the "convenient cow," as Goethe says, I will simply say, imprison yourselves, gentlemen, in your shell; the world will move quite as well without you. I add a number of notes from various sources to which I had not access before writing my own experience. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.