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

SELF-CONTAINED DIVING APPARATUS. {Fleuss’, Davis’ and Hill’s patents.) (See Photos, page 66.) With this patented apparatus the wearer is supplied with a respirable air with- out the aid of Air Pumps, tubes or other connection with the surface. The maximum depth at which the apparatus can be safely used is about fifty feet, and the duration of supply, with one charge of oxygen, air, etc., two hours at a time. It has been designed more particularly for work in flooded mines and other places where the use of air pumps and tubes might be impracticable. The principle of the apparatus is that the wearer breathes the same air several times over, the carbonic acid being absorbed from the exhaled breath, and the requisite amount of oxygen restored to it, thus rendering it pure and again fit for inhalation. 1 he apparatus consists of Patent Diving Helmet and Dress in combination with steel cylinders containing compressed oxygen and atmospheric air in certain propor- tions, in accordance with Professor Haldane’s recommendation, and a metal chamber containing caustic soda, which absorbs the carbonic acid of the exhaled air. The apparatus is fitted with valves, which allow the mixture of oxygen and air to pass into the helmet and dress in the proper quantity, no matter at what depth the diver may be working. There is also a patented safety device whereby, in the event of a valve 1 ailing-, the diver would be enabled to supply the requisite amount of air independently of the valve. Any excess of air that accumulates in the dress escapes automatically- The ordinary weighted boots are worn, and also a lead weight on the chest, as in the ordinary diving dress ; the usual back weight, however, is not neces- sary, as the steel cylinders are heavy enough in themselves to take its place. The cost of recharging the apparatus for two hours’ work is about ios. Large storage cylinders (containing- about ioo cubic feet of oxygen and air com- pressed to 120 atmospheres) are supplied for recharging the cylinders of the diving apparatus, a pump with connections being also supplied for raising the pressure to the full 120 atmospheres as the mixture of oxygen and air in the storage cylinders is lowered. For use in places abroad, where it might be impossible to get the steel cylinders charged, a portable oxygen making and compressing apparatus is supplied complete in all respects, and including several charges of the oxygen-making substance “Oxylithe,” with which any number of sets of the diving apparatus can be recharged. 65