12 



DIVING BELL. 





PmngBdl. each, to be cased with lead, so as to sink empty, each 

 ~ "T ' having a bung hole in its lowest part, to let in water 

 as the air in them condensed, on their de-cent, and to 

 let it out again, when they were drawn up full of water 

 from below, and to a hole in the uppermost part of 

 these barrels I fixed a leathern trunk, or hose, well 

 liquored with bees wax and oil, and long enough to 

 tall below the bung hole, being kept down by a weight 

 appended, so that the air in the upper part of the 

 barrels could not escape, unless the lower ends of these 

 hose were first lilted up. 



I fitted these air barrels with tackle proper to make 

 them rise and fall alternately, after the manner of two 

 buckets in a well, which was done with so much ease, 

 that two men with less than half their strength could 

 perform all the labour; and in their descent, they were 

 directed l>y lines fastened to the under edge of the 

 bell, which passed through rings placed on both sides 

 the leathern hose of each barrel, so that sliding; down 

 by those lines, they came readily to the hand of a man 

 who stood on the stage to receive them, and to take 

 up the ends of the hose into the bell. Through these 

 hose, as soon as the ends of the pipes came above the 

 surface of the water, in the barrels, all the air that 

 was included in the upper 'parts of them was blown 

 with great force into the bell, whilst the water entered 

 at the bung holes below, and filled them. As soon as 

 the air of one barrel had been thus received, upon a 

 signal given it was drawn up, and at the same time the 

 other descended ; thus, by an alternate succession, fur- 

 nishing air so quick, and in such plenty, that I myself 

 have been one of five who have been together at the 

 bottom, in nine or ten fathoms water, for alx>ve an 

 hour and a half at a time, without any sort of ill conse- 

 quence ; and I might have continued there as long as I 

 pleased, for any thing that appeared to the contrary. 

 Besides the whole cavity of the bell was kept entirely 

 free from water, so that I sat on a bench which was 

 diametrically placed near the bottom, with all my 

 clothes on ; I only observed that it was necessary to be 

 let down gradually at first, as about 12 feet at a time, 

 and then to stop and drive out the water that entered, 

 by receiving three or four barrels of fresh air, before I 

 descended i'arther ; but being arrived at the depth de- 

 signed, I then let out as much of the hot air that had 

 been breathed, as each barrel would replenish with 

 cool, by means of the cock at the top of the bell, 

 through whose aperture, though very small, the air 

 would rush with so great violence, as to make the sur- 

 face of the sea boil, and to cover it with a white foam, 

 notwithstanding the great weight of water over us. 



Thus I found I could do any thing that was required 

 to be done just under us, and tliat by taking oft' the 

 stage, I could, for a space as wide as the circuit of the 

 bell, lay the bottom of the sea so far dry, as not to be 

 over shoes thereon ; and, by the glass window, so much 

 light was transmitted, that when the sea was c!..ir, 

 and especially when the sun shone, I could see perfectly 

 well to write or read, much more to take up any tiling 

 that was under us ; and, by the returns of the air bar- 

 rels, I often sent up orders, written with an iron pen, 

 on small plates of lead, directing how to move us from 

 place to place; at other times, when the water was trou- 

 bled and thick, it would be as dark as night below ; but 

 in such a case I have been able to keep a candle burning 

 in the bell as long as I pleased, notwithstanding the 

 great expence of air requisite to maintain flame. 



I take this invention to be applicable to various uses 

 such as fishing for pearls, diving for coral, sponges 



:nul the like, in far greater depths than has hitherto 

 been thought possible; also for the filling and plain- 

 ing of the foundation of moles, bridges, &c. upon rocky 

 bottom*, and for the cleaning and scrubbing of ship-,' 

 bottoms, when foul, in calm weather at sea." 



It was by this contrivance of Dr Halley's to send 

 down fre.-h air to the diving l)ell, that it was rendered 

 a useful and practicable mode of recovering treasures 

 at considerable depths. In other situations it had be- 

 fore been successfully employed. In a work printed 

 at Rotterdam in 1669, and entitled (!. Sinclairi Art 

 nova el Magna Cravitalit ct Levitatit, there is given :ui 

 account of a kind of diving bell, used by a person who 

 recovered some cannon from the wrecks of several 

 ships of the celebrated Spanish Armada, which were 

 sunk on the western coast of Scotland pear the Isle of 

 Mull, just niter the English had dispersed them in the 

 channel in 1 588. The report of the riches they con- 

 tained was a constant excitement to speculators to re- 

 cover the treasure, and many attempts were made, with- 

 out success. The person who made the preceding at- 

 tempt did not recover sufficient to defray his expence-. 



William Phipps, a native of America, submitted a 

 project to King Charles II. in 1680, for searching and 

 unloading a rich Sjwnish ship, sunk on the cou-t of 

 Hispaniola. He represented his plan so plausibly, that 

 the king gave him the command of a ship, and furnish- 

 ed him with every thing necessary for the undertaking. 

 He set sail in the year 1683, but being unsuccessful, 

 returned again in great poverty, though with a firm 

 conviction of the practicability of his scheme. By a sub- 

 scription promoted chiefly by the Duke of Albemarle, 

 the son oi the celebrated Monk, Phipps was enabled, 

 in 1687, to try his fortune once more, having previ- 

 ously engaged to divide the profit, according to the 20 

 shares of wnich the subscription consisted. At first all 

 his labour proved fruitless ; but at last, when his pa- 

 tience was almost exhausted, he was so lucky as to 

 bring up, from the depth of six or seven fathoms, so 

 much treasure, that he returned to Kngland with the 

 value of L. 200,000 sterling. Of this .sum lie himself 

 got about L. 16,000, others say L. 20,000, and the Duke 

 L. f)0, W)Q. After he came back, some persons endea- 

 voured to persuade the king to seize both the ship and 

 the cargo, under a pretence that Phipps, when he so- 

 licited for his majesty's permission, had not given accu- 

 rate information respecting the business ; but the king 

 answered, with much greatness of mind, that he knew 

 Phipps to be an honest man, and that he and his friends 

 should share the whole among them had he returned 

 with double the value. His majesty even conferred 

 upon him the honour of knighthood, to show how much 

 he was satisfied with his conduct. The construction of 

 Phipp's apparatus is not known. 



In 1721, soon after Dr Halley made the descent 

 above related, he invented additional apparatus to ena- 

 ble the diver to go out from die bell to a considerable 

 distance, and stay a sufficient time in the sea, and walk 

 about on the bottom, with full freedom to act as occa- 

 sion required. Considering that the pressure being 

 greater on the surface of the water in the bell, than on 

 any other surface which was higher than that in the 

 bell, the air would pass by a pipe from the bell into 

 any cavity for air ; where the surface of the water was 

 higher, lie conchuled, that a man by putting on his 

 head u bell or cap of lead, made sufficiently heavy to 

 sink empty, and in form resembling the bell itself, might 

 keep his head dry, and might receive a constant stream 

 of air from the great bell, so long as the surface of the 



Diving Belt. 



The old 

 diving-bell 

 used in 

 Scotland. 



Voyage* of 

 W.I'hipps. 



Hi;succtM. 



Dr Honey's 



HUidlbcll*. 



