THE FISHMEN 



nearer the diving suit and the bathyscaphe, although a 

 very elementary ''invention", for (dipped in oil of some 

 kind) it helped him to breathe under water. This practice 

 continued through the centuries until quite recent times, 

 particularly among sponge divers of the Mediterranean. 



Dr. Halley, the noted astronomer and naturahst, 

 writing while modern exploration of the sea was still in 

 its infancy and before cumbersome diving suits and 

 ''diving bells" had reached any degree of perfection, said 

 that "without a sponge, a naked diver cannot remain 

 above two minutes enclosed in water; nor much longer 

 with one, without suffocating". He added, "Nor without 

 long practice near so long : ordinarily persons beginning 

 to be suffocated in less than half a minute. Besides, if the 

 depth be considerable, the pressure of the water in the 

 vessels makes the eyes blood-shotten, and frequently 

 occasions a spitting of blood." A contemporary of Dr. 

 Halley, writing in confirmation of his statements, said : 

 "It is found by experiment that a gallon of air included 

 in a bladder, reciprocally inspired and expired by the 

 lungs, becomes unfit for respiration in little more than a 

 minute of time." 



Dr. Halley achieved immortality by the brilliance and 

 accuracy of his astronomical observations. His suggestions 

 inspired Newton to write his Principia, He made the first 

 complete observation of a transit of Mercury. He was 

 Astronomer Royal towards the close of the eighteenth 

 century. He accurately predicted the return of the comet 

 which was named after him. But his knowledge of divers 

 and diving was ludicrously inadequate. 



Marine products used by ancient peoples provide 

 abundant evidence that divers in many countries had 

 become highly proficient in naked underwater explora- 

 tion for many centuries before Halley used the words 

 quoted. Red coral was regarded as a mystical substance 

 and exported from the Mediterranean shores to places as 

 far away as China, over two thousand years ago : quite 



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