THE FIRST DIVERS 3 I 



It was a simple, hollow reed through which the diver 

 breathed, we do not know. 



Elsewhere, however, Aristotle tells us of the troubles 

 and of the artificial aids of sponge divers. With his usual 

 honesty he admits his ignorance of the cause of under- 

 water pressure: 



"Why do the ears burst of those that dive in the sea? 

 Is it because the breath, being retained, fills the ears, and, 

 violently distending, bursts them? Or may we not say 

 that, if this was the cause, it would be requisite that this 

 should also happen in the air? Or is it because that which 

 does not yield is rapidly broken, and more so by encoun- 

 tering a hard than a soft body? Hence that which is in- 

 flated is less yielding. But the ears, as we have before ob- 

 served, are inflated by the retention of the breath; so that 

 water, which is harder than air, falling on, bursts them. 



"Why do divers bind sponges about their ears? Is it in 

 order that the sea may not, by violently encountering, 

 burst the ears? For thus the ears cannot be filled with 

 water, as they can be, deprived of the sponges." 



Most interesting of all is his description of a combina- 

 tion diving bell: 



"In order that these fishers for sponges may be supplied 

 with a facility of respiration, vases are let down to them 

 in the water with the concave part downward so that they 

 may not be filled with water, but with air. These vases 

 are forced steadily downward, and are held perfectly up- 



