The
wand discovered nothing, and Linnaeus' mark was soon trampled down by
the company who were present, so that when he went to finish the
experiment by fetching the gold himself, he was utterly at a loss where
to find it. The man with the wand assisted him, and informed him that it
could not lie in the way they were going, but quite the contrary, so
pursued the direction of the wand, and actually dug out the gold.
Linnaeus thereupon added that such another experiment would be
sufficient to make a proselyte of him." [1]
In 1659, the Jesuit, Gaspard Schott, tells us that this magic rod was at
this period used in every town in Germany, and that he had frequently
had opportunities of seeing it used in the discovery of hidden treasure.
He further adds:--"I searched with the greatest care into the question
whether the hazel rod had any sympathy with gold and silver, and whether
any natural property set it in motion. In like manner, I tried whether a
ring of metal, held suspended by a thread in the midst of a tumbler, and
which strikes the hours, is moved by any similar force." But many of the
mysterious effects of these so-called divining-rods were no doubt due to
clever imposture. In the year 1790, Plunet, a native of Dauphine,
claimed a power over the divining-rod which attracted considerable
attention in Italy.
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