Submarine Appliances And Their Uses
Deep Sea Diving, &c., &c.

to the diving boat and serves to guide them to particular spots below. When the diver reaches the sea bottom he tears off as much sponge within reach as possible or picks up pearl shells, as the case may be, and then pulls the rope to indicate to the man in the boat that he wishes to be hauled up. But so exhausting is the work, and so severe the stram on the system, that, after a number of dives in deep water, the men often become insensible, and blood sometimes bursts from nose, ears and mouth. The earliest mention of any appliance for assisting divers occurs in the works , of Aristotle, who speaks of a sort of “ vessel for enabling- men to remain some made a men to remain Alexander the Great speaks of tube, one pachyderm instinctively elevates his trunk $ of the water, and Early Diving Appliances. time under water.” It is also recorded that descent into the sea in a machine called a Colympha, which had the power of ceeping a man dry, and at the same time of admitting light. Pliny also divers engaged in the strategy of ancient warfare, who drew air through a end of which they carried in their mouths, whilst the other end was made to'float on the surface of the water. Roger Bacon (A.D. ,240), too, is supposed to have 'n '™ V,COntr;T“ fOr enabIing men '° WOrk Under Walcr: =>nd i" Vegetius’s De -Re an (edrtions of 1511 and 1532-the latter in the British Museum) is an engray.ng (reproduced on page rS8) representing- a diver wearing- a tight-fitting helmet ken^fl 7 1 a fOnS, e^hern PiPe leading ‘° the SUrfaCe’ Where its °P“ “d fe kept afloat by means of a bladder. This method of obtaining air durin- subaqueous °?"at!°nS WaS .Probably ".“S'Sestcd by the action of the elephant when swimming ; the ' so that the end of it is above the surface thus he is enabled to take in fresh air at every inspiration. Lonni, an Italian, about the year 1609 designed a diving apparatus of which the following is a translation of his original description :— Hie instrument is intended to be made with a leather tube, with an internal stiffening framework of iron hoops, and rods placed longitudinally, as shown by " G—H," which tube should be of a length equalling the depth of water. This tube is lashed and tied by a rope to the spar " R—P," while at the bottom, at the end R, the iron stay-hoop "RS" is fitted, and a weight of lead or stone "S" attached thereto, upon which a man can sit astride, who should have a dress of goat- skin (like that which is used for oil-pipes}, the sleeves of the dress being tied up at the wrists, as is done with the sleeves of a suit of armour, and at the thighs it should fit tight, so that no water can intrude, but he should have his head in the small air chamber at the lower end. of the tube, where there are glasses through which he can see and have daylight. And as he is to have his hands free outside he will be able to do any work he likes, and by speaking to the atten- dant at the upper orifice " O—P " he can report what comes to his hands. Lorini's Apparatus. Fig. No. 83. o