£l)c jTurmer's illontljlij tlisitor. 



159 



The Diving Bell. 

 This apparatus so useful and necessary, was 

 invented Ijy Doctor Hally and when first com- 

 pleted, he was one of the five persons who were 

 let down to the depth of ten fathoms for about 

 on hour and a half without experiencing any ill 

 effects. It was of the form of a hell, and made 

 so heavy as to sink, but lowered down by a block 

 and tackle from a vessel. He could see to read 

 and write in clear weather, by a window in the 

 bell but not in stormy weather. It held only as 

 much air as supplied a certain number of per- 

 sons for a given time. A Mr. Spalding was the 

 next inventor who made some improvements) 

 but Smeaton and Rennie were, the first great im- 

 provers of the diving bell, and their bells con- 

 tinue with very little alteration, to be used at the 

 present day. The old bells of Hally and Spald- 

 ing were principally supplied with fresh air by 

 means of barrels, but Smeaton and Rennie al- 

 most simultaneously applied the air pump to 

 supply by an extra pipe the consumption of oxy- 

 gen, and since this improvement was made, the 

 diver goes to any depth and remains as long as 

 he chooses, and builds, mines and blasts nearly 

 as well in the water as out of it. The bells now 

 made are of a tapering form, of cast iron and 

 solid on all sides except at the bottom, the edge 

 of which is heaviest to prevent the bell from 

 rolling in the act of dipping. In the top there 

 are inserted ten bull's eyes or lights, about seven 

 inches in diameter. The bell is lowered by 

 chains, which are far better than ropes for that 

 purpose. The fresh air is introduced at the top, 

 expelling at the satne time the vitiated air at the 

 bottom which frequently ascends with a great 

 noise. Attached to the orifice for diverging the 

 fresh air as it enters and of closing itself in the 

 event of an accident to the pipes, which are 

 made like firemen's hose, there is an internal 

 leather valve. Double cylinder air pumps are 

 generally used and it is because the bell is filled 

 with atmospheric air, that the water does not 

 rush in at the open bottom. As it descends, the 

 increased weight of water above compresses the 

 air and the water flows a little in but can soon 

 be displaced by the air pump. The divers com- 

 municate their wishes to those above simply by 

 striking the bell with a hammer, the number of 

 strokes answering for certain signals. The 

 sound is peculiar and is heard at a great dis- 

 tance. Divers can handle stones under water, 

 with perfect ease, that would require a block and 

 tackle on land. The way blasting is done under 

 water, is to connect the blast to a small tube of 

 a short length and add tube after tube until it 

 leaches the surface, when a piece of hot iron is 

 dropped down and off goes the shot like thun- 

 der — tl ie tube shooting like an arrow, but as it 

 is held together being secure one joint into an- 

 other and held by a strong cord, it is kept from 

 flying away, for further use. 



A patent was granted in 1846 to a Mr. Steel, 

 of Cambridge College for an improvement in 

 diving bells, which was, to use an artificial light, 

 converse with those above and make the conden- 

 sed air of no inconvenience. His plan, however, 

 promised too much. \Ve perceive that a new 

 diving bell has recently been constructed by Mr. 

 J. A. Richards, of Boston, which has been pro- 

 nounced to be a very superior apparatus, but we 

 are not able to say what the difference is i> 

 tween it and others, but its operations huvi 

 highly 'extolled. We have heard frequent ac- 

 counts of persons being able to breathe as freely 

 in some diving bells as in the open atmosphere, 



but this is impossible. They must breathe in a 

 condensed atmosphere and the lungs therefore 

 must be more oppressed. Some people have 

 been almost suffocated on their first descent in a 

 diving bell. Others again have thriven like fish 

 in (he water, and like Belzoni in the hecatombs 

 of Egypt, become familiar with the operation. 

 .Much has already been done by the diving bell, 

 but it is our opinion that submarine apparatus 

 and explorations are as yet but in the stages of 

 childhood. — Scientific American. 



Hikts for Boys.— Seven kinds of company 

 to be avoided : 



1. Those who ridicule their parents, or diso- 

 bey their commands. 



2. Those who scoff at religion. 



3. Those who use profane or filthy language. 



4. Those who are unfaithful, play truant, and 

 waste their time in idleness. 



5. Those that are of a quarrelsome temper, 

 and are apt to get into difficulty with others. 



6. Those who are addicted to lying and steal- 

 ing. 



7. Those who are of a cruel disposition, who' 

 take pleasure in torturing and maiming animals 

 and insects, robbing birds of their young, &c. 



All these sorts of company are to be avoided ; 

 for if you associate with them, they will soon 

 make you like themselves, and " the companion 

 of fools shall be destroyed." 



Agriculture. — Nothing can more fully prove 

 the ingratitude of mankind than the little regard 

 which the disposers of honorary rewards have 

 paid to agriculture ; which is treated as a subject 

 so remote from common life by all those who do 

 not immediately hold the plough, or give fodder 

 to the ox, that there is room to question, whether 

 a great part of mankind has yet been inform- 

 ed that life is sustained by the fruits of the 

 earth. — Johnson. 



(U 8 * The better animals can he fed, and the 

 more comfortably they can be kept, the more 

 profitable they are — and all farmers work for 

 profit. 



Pork. — The Cincinnati Commercial of the 24th 

 inst. says: " Hogs are beginning to come into 

 the slaughter. We saw several droves passing 

 through the street yesterday. The work will 

 soon begin." 



(£/"- Roasted coffee is said, by its powerful 

 vapor, completely to render harmless most vege- 

 table and animal effluvia. So says the .Medical 

 Times. 



Hard to Kill. 



" He dies hard," was a remark made of one 

 who had met with all sorts of misfortunes and 

 yet continued to struggle on, with his head just 

 above water. He knew and felt that if lie ceas- 

 ed to push forward, or stopped to rest, all would 

 be over with him. Where a hundred would 

 have sunk down in despair, this young man kept 

 up good spirits — never suffered his courage to 

 flag, and what is the result ? He is in a fair way 

 lo make money again, and continues to be re- 

 spected. If he had sunk without an effort, who 

 would have lent him a hand? — who have loaned 

 the first dollar to start in business again? We 



u men, ther 



;-,, ubi I ■ hull so deter- 



mined courage. When every thing else fails, 

 these will stand by. They will bring you lo life 



and salvation, when death and destruction are at 

 your door. No matter what may have been 

 your misfortunes— your indiscretions, if you 

 please — do not suffer yourselves to die easy. So 

 long as one breath remains in your bodies, make 

 the most of it and save yourselves. You have 

 all heard of the man who lost a large fortune by 

 his folly. When he awoke to a realizing sense 

 of his condition, what did he do? Not jump 

 overboard in despair. He resolved to retrieve 

 his fortune, and not to die till he should accom- 

 plish his object. He commenced by shovelling 

 coal, and clung to it year in and out, till at last 

 he became the possessor of all that he had lost. 

 An admirable example ! Let it inspire you with 

 life and hope. Don't sink— don't despair— but 

 keep up your spirits, and never, never yield to 

 any stroke but the stroke of death. If you die 

 in reality, before the accomplishment of your 

 object, you will have the satisfaction of falling 

 with your armor on. This will be glorious. If 

 we ever offer a sincere prayer, it is that we may 

 not go to the grave a lump of lazy fat— as if our 

 chief object in life had been to prepare a luscious 

 least for the rapacious worms. — D. C. Coleswortli ■/. 



Soups.— The delicate and proper blending of 

 savors is the chief art of good soup-making. 



Be sure and skim the grease off the soup 

 when a first boils, or it will not become clear. 

 Throw in a little salt to bring up the scum. Re- 

 move all the grease. 



Be sure and simmer softlij, and never let a soup 

 boil hard. 



Put the meat into cold water, and let it grow 

 warm slowly. This dissolves the gelatine, al- 

 lows the albumen to disengage, and the scum to 

 rise, and diffuses the savory part of the meat. 

 But if the soup is over a hot fire the albumen 

 coagulates and hardens the meat, prevents tho 

 water from penetrating, and the savory part from 

 disengaging itself. Thus the broth will be with- 

 out flavor, and the meat tough. Allow about 

 two table spoonfuls of salt to four quarts of 

 soup, where there are many vegetable^, and one 

 and a half where there are few. 



Be sure not to leave any fat floating on the 

 surface. 



A quart of water, or a little less, to a pound of 

 meat, is a good rule. 



Soup made of uncooked meat is as good the 

 second day, if heated to the boiling point. 



If more water is needed, use boiling hot wa- 

 ter, as cold or lukewarm spoils the soup. 



It is thought that potato water is unhealthy ; 

 and therefore do not boil potatoes in soup, but 

 boil elsewhere, and add them when nearly 

 cooked. 



The water in which poultry or fresh meat is 

 boiled should he saved for gravies, or soup, tho 

 next day. If you do not need it, give it to the 

 poor. 



Keep the vessel tight in which you boil soup, 

 that the flavor be not lost. 



Never leave soup in metal puts, as sometimes 

 a family is thus poisoned. 



Thickened soups require more seasoning ; 

 nearly double the quantity used for thin soups. 



fjy At the recent Fair in New York, a medal 

 was awarded to Air. George Page, of Baltimore, 

 II i portable horse power and saw mill. 



(X/ 5 * Four inches of snow fell in Aroostook 

 county, Maine, on Monday, the 23d inst. 



