OlMTUART NOTICE. 



6J 



down from the boat into deep water by means of a rope-ladder. The 

 pumps were worked uninterruptedly, as on the former occasion ; but they 

 noticed that he remained below longer than previously (which, according 

 to his own statement, had been half an hour), and suddenly, to their 

 horror, they observed his body floating at the surface of the water, a little 

 distance from the boat. They got to him as quickly as possible, without 

 ceasing pumping (so they declare), and on the removal of the helmet found 

 him apparently dead. Without knowing in the least what to do, they took 

 him on shore — some distance ; but, of course, it was all over then, if it 

 had not been long before." The verdict, at the inquest, made it appear that 

 water had got into the air-tube at the joint, which was not screwed up tight 

 enough ; but this Mr. Colchester (and also Mr. Heinke) regarded as im- 

 possible. No water seems to have been found in the dress ; and the 

 rising to the surface, with all the weights upon him, could only have occurred 

 by the valves for the escape of the air being closed. There is a small escape- 

 valve in the helmet which is closed by a spring, and does not act until the 

 pressure of the air is more than sufficient to cause the diver to rise. The 

 principal valve is in the breast of the dress, and is closed by a lever, re- 

 quiring the action of the hand. Now it appears that Mr. Barrett had neg- 

 lected the precaution (which is always made imperative) of attaching the 

 life-line to his body, preferring, he said, to hold it in his hand. If by any 

 chance he lost this rope, he would lose his means of communicating with 

 the crew, and become entirely dependent on the air-tube. His only means 

 of rising to the surface would be by closing the escape-valve, which he 

 must have done for this purpose, perhaps, on finding that something had 

 gone wrong. All the inquiries hitherto made have left a painful doubt, 

 which time will scarcely remove. 



It has appeared desirable to give these particulars, because it looks like 

 an instance of self-reliance carried too far, and a valuable life sacrificed, 

 apparently, by the neglect of those precautions which any one less daring 

 would have observed. The divers professionally employed work four hours 

 at a spell, often inside the hulls of vessels ; they are said even to have gone 

 leep below! The only casualties have been one or two apoplectic 

 seizures, \\ Inch have occurred to men in government works, who probably 

 Mere not fitted for the occupation. 



Lucas Barrett was born in London, November 14, 1837. He was the 

 eldest son of Mr. George Barrett, the iron-founder, -whose works at the 

 Record-Office and King's Cross Terminus are well known. He was sent, 

 in 1847, to- Mr. Ashton's school, at Hoys ton, Cambridge, and afterwards 

 to University College School, and in his holidays used to visit the British 

 Museum, where he soon became known to the Natural History officers, 

 by bringing fossils to be named, and volunteering to assist in unpack- 

 ing and sorting collections. In 1853, he went to Ebersdorf, near Lo- 

 benstein, Voigtland, where he remained a year studying German and 

 chemistry; and making, in the course of it, a pedestrian tour in Bavaria, 

 which deserves to be recorded, a3 having cost him only one shilling a 

 day. In 1855, he accompanied Mr. M 'Andrew in a yachting voyage 

 to Norway and Finmark, and made some observations on the living Teretr 

 bratu/cp, which were published in the Ann. Nat. Hist., and translated 

 into the scientific journals of France and Grermany. The same year he 

 was chosen successor to Mr. M'Coy, as Curator of the Cambridge Uni- 

 versity Museum, and was elected a LYllow of the Geological Society of 

 London, although perhaps legally ineligible, being only eighteen years of 

 age. In the following year he obtained leave of absence, and accompanied 

 Mr. J . W. Tayler to ( i reenland, — an expedition attended w itb considerable 



