Henry Gross and his Dowsing Rod 1

SPOILER ALERT.

All entries speak to travel in the world of the book, and there is no attempt to shield the reader from the results of plot development.

• The book was written by Kenneth Roberts and was published in 1951 at Country Life Press of Garden City, N.Y.
• The book shows a growth of understanding the scope of dowsing over a four year period. Henry Gross discovers that he can ask the rod questions and get information as to depth of vein, number of veins from a head of water, and flow in gallons per minute. The questions are asked through a value which is 'at least' by implication and answered as 'yes' or 'no'. So, the questions have to be in a series form.
• Henry and his daughter discovered that either one of them could block the dowsing rod responses to questions of the other. This explains why dowsers often perform poorly in the presence of skeptics.
• Most of the book is concerned with the attempt to get fresh water in Bermuda, which is thwarted by local laws, bad drilling, and fundamental disbelief that overcomes people so that they stop cooperating. It was very depressing.
• Henry further discovered that if his rod touches a substance, then it dowses for that substance until he washes it with water. When touching cheap blended whiskey, it worked over any cheap blended whiskey, but not over rye, bourbon, or scotch. It was enough to touch the unopened bottle. This is similar to the allergy tests I once took, where I was allergic to a substance as represented in a sealed bottle, or even written on a piece of paper.