sex determination in caterpillars

[Anne Kilmer]

Esther Cornelius wrote:
> 
> Dear Priya54 : I can hear the hoots already. This is a methoed I've used
> to determine gender in caterpillars and it works as well on ova, it is
> about 90% accurate. It's basically a form of well-witching using a plumb
> bob instead of a willow fork. The theory is that the body knows things
> the intellect won't recognise, (such as things about sex possibly
> because sex was invented before brains so without sex, there would be no
> brains.) And it works especially well on gender but not (unfortunately)
> on the location of buried gold. To work it, hold a small weight on a
> string about 10 inches long, loosely in the hand with the arm sightly
> extended but not resting on anything. Observe the rotation of the weight
> (clockwise, counter clockwise, back and forth or whatever) in response
> to yes or no questions when the answer IS known, or simply ask the plumb
> bob to indicate a positive or negative answer. Then ask specifc yes or
> no questions when th answer is NOT known but can be proved. My sucess
> rate is pretty good for the first 5 or 10 questions but after that the
> truth gets sloppy, so I take a break for a few hours. I know I'm getting
> spam when the answer is inconsistant, and seems to be alternating yes -
> no. good luck, Bill

My parents used this method to detect our sex before birth, and were 
accurate in every case but one, the third pregnancy, where the plumb bob 
(Mama's wedding ring tied to a very long hair) kept going back and 
forth, and then round and round, and then back and forth again. 
	The twins, Nick and Noelie, explained that phenomenon. 
AS I learned the technique, however, the pendulum goes back and forth on 
girls (or is it boys) and round and round for boys (or is it girls). I 
can never remember ... you say you simply assign the code and the 
pendulum responds correctly? And you have kept records? What fun. 
	The human mind is a remarkable thing, doing its best work when 
relaxed and unchallenged. A pity a pendulum can't be applied to a math 
test ... or can it? Like Dumbo's feather, it might get some of us off 
the ground. 
The pendulum won't work for a sceptic, though. Find a dowser if you want 
to test this technique but are sure it won't work. 
Anne Kilmer
South Florida