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The rod has jumped all the way down. The upward and downward whipping of the rod as it responds to very slight changes in tension and direction of strain is involuntarily controlled by the user.

Following each set of tests, the dowsers were asked (1) how successful they thought they had been (three answered "100 percent" and one had not completed the test) and (2) if they thought they had won the $10,000 (the same three answered very affirmatively).

With this sort of preparation, I felt that the results would help to explain just why so many otherwise intelligent people think they have the power to find hidden substances with sticks. All probable "outs" had been covered, and the outcome might well convince even the dowsers themselves that their performances were combinations of a peculiar "instrumentation" and poor standards of validation.

The instruments used need to be discussed and evaluated. The most common tool, particularly in the United States, is the forked stick. When the stick is grasped properly and moderate pressure is exerted to further spread the "fork," a state of unbalance is quickly approached. Without effort on the part of the user, the "pointer" must go either up or down to relieve the pressure applied, though such movement is kept under control by small adjustments in the position of the wrist. The strong tendency of the pointer to move seems to be independent of the will of the user, and the impression is given that some external force is acting on the rod. I have seen such a stick whip up and strike a dowser, breaking his glasses. My reader should try it and experience the phenomenon.

We often hear that the bark on the green stick that is used will peel away under the force. That is true. Green sticks with slippery bark (willow is ideal) make the best dowsing sticks, since they are harder to control, and the bark often breaks loose. In fact, the stick sometimes flies out of the hands, so sudden is the whipping motion of the pointer.

All this has nothing to do with any mysterious force; we are dealing with a physical system under tension and in a state of delicate equilibrium. Why does the stick point when the dowser believes he is over water? Because it is easy to tilt either wrist very slightly to make the stick move, and if the dowser knows where the water is supposed to be, or has made a guess about where it is, he can easily and unconsciously guide the stick.

I have heard of some dowsers who claim 100-percent success in their attempts to find water and of others who claim only 90 percent. The sad fact is that dowsers are no better at finding water than anyone else. Drill a well almost anywhere in an area where water is geologically possible, and you will find it. Dowsers have the strange notion that water travels in underground rivers, and they will happily trace these hidden torrents for you. But geologists know otherwise. Bob Huguley, a geologist who works for the Planning Board of Monmouth County, New Jersey, doesn't know of one dowser in the area who has ever been successful. He also estimates that less than 1 percent of the earth's underground water actually flows beneath the surface. That small fraction is confined to areas rich in limestone (known as "karst" country) and the resulting caves, where real underground streams can occur. Underground flow can also occur in porous material, but that flow amounts to only a few feet or a few miles in a year. Most water that is obtained by means of wells and so forth is in pools and reservoirs underground. It does not flow.

The reason dowsers consider themselves successful is easy to discover. When the dowser's customer digs and finds water, the dowser attributes this success to his detection of the right spot. No one ever bothers to drill nearby and discover the same source. Like so many other self-deluded "psychics," they simply choose to believe.

The test I devised did not allow the performers to excuse any failure easily. They had shown that they could