402 THE CENTURY, 



of a ship, wherein men may safely swim under water.&quot; 

 He further declares, that &quot; such a contrivance is feasible, 

 and may be effected, is beyond all question, because 

 it hath been already experimented here in England 

 by Cornelius Dreble.&quot; He next considers various 

 schemes, and mentions as one of the advantages of 

 such a submarine vessel, that, u It may be of very 

 great advantage against a navy of enemies, who by 

 this means may be undermined in the water and blown 

 up.&quot; Math. Magick, 1648, p. 178. 



Among the Sloane MSS. No. 4159, in the British 

 Museum, is one for a means of destroying an entire fleet 

 with one ship. It is endorsed, &quot; A proposition sent to 

 Mr. Augier, from Paris,&quot; and the folio wing is a copy : 

 &quot; A person who makes profession of honour, and saith 

 he hath had the good [fortune ?] to have been known 

 of Sir Oliver Flemming during his public employments 

 abroad, doth propound to a friend of yours that by a 

 secret he hath he can, with one ship alone, break 

 what naval army or fleet, &c.&quot; 



In 1596, the celebrated John Napier, of Merchiston, 

 wrote a statement of four &quot; Secret Inventions,&quot; con 

 cluding with the remark : &quot; These inventions, besides 

 devices of sailing under the water, with divers other 

 devices and stratagems for harming of the enemies, by 

 the grace of God, and work of expert craftsmen, I hope 

 to perform.&quot; The original MS. anno 1596, is in the 

 Lambeth Library, No. 658. 



There is an article in Tilloch s &quot; Philosophical Maga 

 zine,&quot; Vol. 18, for 1804, reviewing a Memoir of Lord 

 Napier of Merchiston. On his device for sailing under 

 water, the writer observes: u The famous Dutch 

 philosopher, Cornelius Drebell, the reputed inventor 

 of the microscope and the thermometer, constructed for 

 James I. a subaqueous vessel, which he tried on the 



