[ 3<M } 

 LXII. Ldetligetice and MisceUantQiis Articles, 



T DIVING MACHINE. 



UK Gazette de France gives some curious particulars of ex- 

 periments made on the 22d of October, with a new diving ma- 

 chine, by Mr. Meh'ille, the inventor. He descended twice in 

 the Seine, near the Pont Royal, to the depth from ten to twenty 

 feet, and passed 56 minutes at the bottom. He took with hiiii 

 two swans, two ducks, and some bread and wine. He let loose 

 the aquatic animals while under the water ; went from the Poat 

 Neuf to the Swinmiini,^ School, and came out dressed as usual, 

 without being in the least wet. The machine does not resem- 

 ble any thmg of the kind hitherto employed ; it is neither a bar- 

 rel iior a bell, but has rather the form of an egg. It is not bulky, 

 since it contains only five cubic feet of air ; this air is prepared 

 in such a manner that pressure can do it no harm, but it is kent 

 pure and fresh. Mr. Melville says that he has taken with him 

 different animals, as cats, rabbits, dogs, &;c. but the latter can- 

 not bear this kind of air longer tlian five minutes, as they go mad 

 in it ; but he declares that he could stay half a day under water 

 •without the slightest inconvenience. He has the use of all his 

 limbs, and can do what he pleases, saw wood, bore gimlet holes, 

 and pick up the smallest objects. Though his pulse rises from 

 120 to 160, he asserts that he feels from it an agreeable sensa- 

 tion, a kind of electrical effect. He promises several other in- 

 teresting inventions ; for instance, that lie shall, this winter, 

 make a little carriage, in which two persons may next summer, 

 take the most pleasant excursions at tiie bottom of the Seine, in 

 ti)e Ponds of Versailles, or in any river. 



The Pope, since his return to Rome, has directed much of his 

 attention to the improving and keeping in repair the pubhc 

 buildings, ancient and modern, of that splendid depository of 

 almost all that is valuable in antiquities and the fine arts. The 

 works going on at the Coliseum, and the formation of the 

 Museum of Pius Clementinus, have been particularly the ob- 

 ject of his care. He has not been able to prevent the transfer 

 to the King of Naples, of the celebrated collection of C^u-dinal 

 Borgia, at \'elletri, and which the former purchased for 20,000 

 ducats ; but he has put an end to the negociation for the sale of 

 the valuable collection of medals and engraved stones which the. 

 same Cardinal left to the Propaganda. 



EARTHQUAKE AT LYONS, 



On the 6th ins;., about six o'clock in the morning, two violent 

 shock? of an earthquake were felt at Lyons, in the direction 



from 



