THE SIXTH SENSE ?
In the latest scientific view of water-divining—of the dowser's art—a quite definite sixth sense is attributed to some few men and women. The view seems to be that the forked stick or rod is not itself affected in any degree by the presence of water or precious metal or what not, that some of the most successful dowsers have themselves acknowledged this, but the ritual of the rod has helped them to exercise and make explicit their subconscious perception of the neighbourhood of water. . Some again have not used the rod at all. These specially endowed beings do not, so far as they know, smell the water or feel the water, but they are aware of it by half- conscious sense, not strong enough or definite enough to locate. This is all 'we can say of' what is the diviner's sixth sense, just as direction is the dog's. Insects, of course, have even less explicable senses, as that which teaches one species of wasp to sting the caterpillar victim just in the one minute spot where the sting paralyses, but does not kill. The mystery remains unexplained, though a scientific word has been invented, and is now a good deal used in various branches of psychological investigation. The " blessed word " is " cryptesthesia," the cryptic sense. It has at least a satisfying succession of syllables and a good Greek savour.
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