Thesis on dowsing, defended at the University of Copenhagen, 1740

A scarce thesis on dowsing, a form of divination used to locate ground water or buried metals or gemstones, often aided by the use of a so-called divining or dowsing rod. Although there are still practitioners today, it has long since been established that dowsing, or water-witching, is, in fact, a pseudo-science.

The thesis was defended on June 15, 1740, at the the University of Copenhagen by Johannes Bartholomaeus Bluhme (1681-1753), an influential pietist and the first German court chaplain to Danish king Christian VI.