326. Descents in a Diving Bell. 
to defer weighing it till the succeeding day. Some kind of craft pass- 
ing the place, by night, unfortunately, ran against the float, upon 
which was fixed their apparatus for managing the diving bell, and 
with which the hawsers, made fast to the sunken gondola, were con- 
nected, and thus blasted their hopes. By these disasters the gon- 
dola was so shattered, as to render it extremely difficult to get suffi- 
cient hold, a third time, to raise such a vast weight, and the enter- 
prize was abandoned. 
In descending, a painful sensation was induced on the tympanum, 
attended with a noise, as Mr. Clifford informed me, not unlike that of 
a fly entangled in a spider’s web, till the adventurers were at the depth 
of about twelve feet, when, experiencing a sudden shock, they were 
- completely relieved. This painful sensation, the shock, and subse- 
quent relief, were regularly repeated, as nearly as could be judged, 
every twelve feet. After a few descents, it was perceived that, by 
being raised a foot or two, every eight or ten feet, the shock was 
avoided and the men were freed from that painful sensation, which 
had resulted from the uniformly increasing density of their atmos- 
phere. 
The adventurers once made their submarine descent, at the time of 
high water, when they were seventy two feet below the surface. Two 
thirds of the cavity of their vessel, as was imagined, without making 
any admeasurement, was then filled with water. 
In a clear day and with an unruffled sea, they had light sufficient 
for reading a coarse print, at the greatest depth. As they moved the 
pebbles, with their gaff, at the bottom of the river, fish in abundance 
came to the place, like a flock of chickens, and as devoid of fear, as if 
it was a region, where they never had been molested by beings from 
the extra-aquatic world. From the description of the adventurers, no 
scenery in nature can be more beautiful, than that: exhibited to them, 
in a sunshiny day, at the bottom of the deep Piscataqua. 
It does not appear that the health of either of the men was in 1 the 
least impaired, by their submarine excursions. ‘Their pulsations, were 
quick, and their perspiration was very profuse, while under water; 
and, upon coming out of it, they felt themselves in a fit condition for a 
comfortable sleep. - ‘ 
One of my principal motives, for giving this account, is, to suggest 
a fact, which perhaps, is not unworthy of special notice. I offer it re- 
spectfully, without comment, hoping it will one day prove a hint to pro- 
duce some experiments, which may be of importance.in the healing art. 
