C8 DOEGLING TRAIN OIL 



DIVING DRESS, or HELIVTET. Tho diving helmet is, in principle, similar to 

 the bell. In one case the head is enclosed in an air-tight metal covering, to -which 

 jiir is artificially supplied ; in the other, the whole body is in a vessel fitted with pipes 

 for the supply of fresh, and the removal of deteriorated, air. 



The diving helmet is made of thin sheet-copper, which covers the head of the 

 diver, large enough to admit of free motion, and pierced with three holes, which arc 

 covered with glass, and protected with brass wire. The diver wears a waterproof 

 canvns jacket, and to this the helmet, which comes down over the breast and back, 

 is fastened so tightly that no water can penetrate. Two weights, each about 40lbs., 

 are suspended to a belt which passes round the diver, one in front, and the other at 

 the back. This belt can be instantly unfastened in case of accident. Fresh air is 

 supplied by means of a flexible waterproof pipe, which is attached to an air-pump 

 in the barge from which the diver descends. This pipe passes under the diver's loft 

 arm, and enters the buck of the helmet, being so contrived that the fresh air is 

 made to impinge on the glasses, and thus prevents them in a great measure from 

 being dimmed by the breath. From the back part of the helmet there is also led an 

 eduction pipe, which carries off the breathed air. Tho attendants on the surface arc 

 communicated with by a signal lino, which passes under the right arm. The diver 

 descends from the side of the vessel by a ropo or else by a wooden ladder, loaded at 

 the lower end, the weight being kept at a little height above the ground. "When the 

 diver has descended, the weight is set down, and the rope slackened, so that the 

 motion of the boat may not obstruct his movements. Heavy weights are attached to 

 his feet to keep him steady ; and he carries a line in his hand to guide him back to 

 the rope. A waterproof dress entirely covers him, and thus he may remain under 

 water five or six hours, perfectly dry all the while. 



DIVINING ; DIVINING ROD. The German miners who were brought over 

 to this country at the instance of Queen Elizabeth, who was especially desirous of 

 seeing the mineral treasures of this country developed, first introduced the divining 

 rod. It has continued to the present day to be occasionally used in the mining 

 districts not merely by the uneducated miners, but by men of education and intelli- 

 gence for the discovery of mineral lodes. 



The divining, or, as it is more frequently called in Cornwall, the ' dowsing ' rod, is 

 a forked twig of the blackthorn, the hazel, or the willow, of one year's growth. It is 

 placed on the open palms of the hands, the fingers are closed upon each limb of the 

 fork, and the point of junction is then turned up towards the operator, and then, by a 

 twist of the arms, placed outwards, so that it is held with the muscles of the arm in 

 a most constrained position. The operator, called 'a dowser,' walks over the ground 

 to be examined, and the rod is supposed to turn downwards with irresistible force 

 when a mineral lode is approached. There can be no question but the phenomenon 

 in this case is precisely similar to that of table-turning. Fixedness of will operates 

 involuntarily upon the rigid muscles of the arm, a movement is felt, and the slight 

 impulse yielded to becomes greatly increased. Every fairly made experiment proves 

 divining to be one of those errors which are born of ignorance, and perpetuated 

 through the neglect of the proper education of the mind. Two or three well-esta- 

 blished positions may serve to remove this superstition from those minds which can 

 be brought to reflect on natural phenomena. 



The divining rod is supposed to bend by virtue of some attractive power between 

 the woody twig and the mineral lode. 



1. Place the most approved divining rod over a mineral lode, so delicately poised 

 that a breath will turn it. The metalliferous matter will exert no influence upon it. 



2. Place the divining rod upon the open palms of the hands of the most approved 

 ' dowser.' It will never move, however great may be the mass of metal. 



Thus we have proofs that neither the metals, the twig, nor tho man have any 

 influence. 



3. Close the hands tightly, keeping tho arms still in an easy position. No change 

 in the position of tho rod will take place in passing over any number of mini-nil 

 lodes. 



4. Twist the arms in tho way described, and then, and then only in th-j hands of a 

 believer, will tho rod bend ; and it is a chance if it bends at the right time. 



The divining rod is said to bend equally to water, hence it is used in some places 

 to find that fluid ; to blood, therefore it was used to track murderers ; ,'ind to metals. 



It is to be regretted that the human mind should cling, with M> much obstinacy, to 

 the errors of those days when everything was scon through the mists of superstition. 



DOCIMACY. (Docimasic, Fr.) From the Greek Aoicindfa, I prove. See 

 ASSAYING. 



DOEGLING TRAIN OIL. The oil of the Bdctna, rostrata, or Bottle-nose 

 vrhale. 



