DIVING. 



Biving. 



Oil used by 

 divers to 



calm the 



sea. 



v, . ! r 



L..UI ; . 



Divert in 

 the South 

 Sw. 



Sicilian 

 direr. 



His ex- 



Gbarrbdi*. 



must necessarily diminish the quantity of air he can 

 take down : But we have been lately informed, that 

 the real object of taking oil in their mouth is to calm 

 those small waves on the surface of the sea, which pre- 

 vent the light being so steadily transmitted to the bot- 

 tom, as is necessary to enable the divers to find the 

 small objects they search for without delay. By eject- 

 ing a little oil from their mouths, it rises to the surface, 

 and spreading upon it, calms the waves in a most re- 

 markable manner, and gives a brilliant light at the bot- 

 tom. This singular property of oil has been long 

 known, and is practised in many other ways to allay 

 the agitation of the sea, by fishermen and mariners. 

 A diver has to go through a very great exertion in 

 holding his breath when deep under water ; for it should 

 be observed, that an equally great difficulty with the 

 want of air arises in diving at considerable depths, from 

 the pressure of the water upon the surface of the body 

 tending to compress every cavity within it. It requires 

 a very great muscular strength in the diver to resist 

 this action ; no breast-plate or other contrivance can 

 defend him, unless it is made to exclude perfectly the 

 water from his breast, and of .sufficient strength to bear 

 the pressure ; in which case it would become too heavy 

 and cumbersome to permit his speedy descent and re- 

 turn. To dive at all requires long practice, and ha- 

 bitual exposure to the weight of the water, after the 

 habit of retaining the breath is sufficiently acquired ; 

 and it is observed, that when the most expert divers 

 continue to dive repeatedly for any length of time 

 in deep water, their eyes become bloodshot, and a spit- 

 ting of blood, induced from the great exertion. Peo- 

 ple who are accustomed to the water from their infan- 

 cy, will at length be enabled not only to remain much 

 longer under water than could be supposed, but ac- 

 quire a kind of amphibious nature, so that they seem to 

 have the use of all their faculties, as well when their 

 bodies are immersed in water, as when they are on dry 

 land. Many savage nations are remarkable for this, 

 and, according to the accounts of our late voyagers, the 

 inhabitants of the South Sea Islands are such expert 

 divers, that when a nail or any piece of iron was thrown 

 overboard, they would instantly jump into the sea after 

 it, and never fail to recover it, notwithstanding the 

 quick descent of the metal. Even among civilized na- 

 tions, many persons have been found capable of con- 

 tinuing an incredible length of time under water. 



The most remarkable instance of this kind is the fa- 

 mous Sicilian diver Nicolo Pesce, who, according to the 

 marvellous account given by Kircher, had from his in- 

 fancy been so used to the sea, that at last it became his 

 most natural element. It is said he was frequently 

 known to spend five days in the midst of the waves, 

 without any other provisions than the fish which he 

 caught there, and eat raw. He often swam over from 

 Sicily into Calabria, which is a tempestuous and dan- 

 gerous passage, carrying letters from the king, and as 

 frequently swam among the gulfs of the Lipari Islands, 

 without any apprehension of danger. " In aid,' 

 Kircher, " of these powers of enduring the deep, nature 

 seemed to have assisted him, in a very extraordinary 

 manner ; for the spaces between his fingers and toes 

 were webbed as in a goose, and his chest became so very 

 capacious, that he could take in at one inspiration, as 

 much breath as would serve him a whole day." At 

 length, however, we are told, this extraordinary person 

 met his fate, in exploring the depths of the whirlpool of 

 Charybdis, at the instance of the king, who, after he 

 had once succeeded in fetching up a golden cup that 



had been thToMm in, ordered him to repeat the experi- 

 ment The authenticity of this account depends wholly 

 upon the authority of Father Kircher, who assures us 

 he had it from the archives of Sicily, and that the Si- 

 cilian king above mentioned was King Frederic. But, 

 notwithstanding this assertion, the whole is so marvel- 

 ous, as to prevent us from giving any particulars of the 

 wonders which his hero saw at the bottom of the cele- 

 brated Charybdis. 



From the many important purposes to which the art 

 of diving is applicable, and from that very general spirit 

 of enterprise which induces ingenious men to attempt 

 what is exceedingly difficult, or apparently impossible, 

 the mechanical projectors of the last two centuries have 

 been stimulated to produce a multitude of inventions 

 for enabling divers to descend to great depths, and to 

 continue under water at pleasure. Of all these, what 

 is called the diving bell has been found the most useful, 

 no other contrivance having been brought to such a de- 

 gree of perfection in all its parts, as to come in compe- 

 tition with it, for descending in deep water; though some 

 have been found very useful, in particular situations, 

 where the water is of ?o great depth. We have given 

 descriptions of the different diving bells in a separate 

 article, and shall here briefly notice other inventions for 

 diving, which have come to our knowledge. 



The early contrivances are most of them suits of ar- 

 mour, made water-tight by leather, and provided with 

 large head pieces or helmets, to which flexible tubes are 

 attached, for conveying down fresh air, and returning 

 that which has become unfit for respiration ; the fresh 

 air being forced down one pipe by bellows, or other 

 means, and allowed to return by another. These pipes 

 supplied the diver with air, whilst the armour, by keep- 

 ing offthe pressure of water from his breast, allowed hi* 

 chest to dilate upon inspiration. A number of differ- 

 ent contrivances of this class are to be found detailed 

 in Leopold's Theatrum Machinarum Hydraulicarum, 

 though none of them have been found of extensive use, 

 lAci-pt in small depths, such as twelve or fifteen feet. At 

 much greater depths this method is not practicable, bp- 

 cun-e it is necessary that the diver should have his limbs 

 exposed, or only covered with a flexible covering, in or- 

 der to enable him to do any good at the bottom of the se.i; 

 and the pressure on the limbs is then so great, as to ob- 

 struct the circulation of blood, in the same manner as lig- 

 atures would do, whilst those parts of the body which are 

 within the armour being relieved from pressure, the blood 

 is forced from the limbs into them, and causes intolerable 

 pain and distress. It is also difficult to construct an 

 armour sufficiently strong without being unwieldy, and 

 the least defect will fill the whole with water, and en- 

 danger the life of the diver, who may be drowned before 

 he can be drawn up. 



In PlateCCXXXI. Fig. 1. we have given a represen- 

 tation of one of the best of these contrivances, which may 

 be of very extensive use in small depths. It was proposed 

 by M.Khngert, and is described in a pamphlet published 

 at Breslau in 1 798. The harness or armour is made of 

 strong tinplnte, in the form of a cylinder, which encloses 

 the diver's body and head : it consists of two parts, that 

 he may conveniently put it on ; also a jacket, with short 

 sleeves, and a pair of drawers of strong leather ; all 

 which being water tight, and joined closely round the 

 body of the diver, secure every part of him but his 

 arms and legs from the pressure ; and this at a depth of 

 twenty feet will not be very inconvenient on those parts. 

 Fig. 1. is a front view of a diver dressed in this appara- 

 tus. A A is the upper part of the cylinder, having a glo- 



Diviug. 



Projects for 

 diving. 



Water aTi 

 mour. 



Difficult!* 

 in deep 



KlingenN 

 ap]xir;itu:i. 



PLATE 

 CCXXXI. 



Fig. 1. 



The ar- 

 mour. 



Fig. I. 



