The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-06-11 00:00:00

THE DROWNING SEASON.

On the subject of bathing Dr. H. MacCormac, of Bel-
fast, makes the following sensible and appropriate remarks
In Nature :

"The bathing—l might almost say the drowning—
season is now about to begin, and many lives will un-
happily be lost. As the human frame, bulk for bulk,
is lighter than water, all that is needful to save life is
to permit the body to sink until it shall displace as
much water as equals the body's weight. Then pad-
dle gently, as the lower animals do, with hands and
feet, the head being held erect, wherever it is desired
to go. This direction being carried out is absolutely
all that is needful under ordinary cor.ditions to pre-
serve life. These few directions ought to be stuck up
in every bathing place—every boating and skating
place—in the three Kingdoms. Children in every in-
stance ought to be made to tread water from the
earliest age, say in shallow slate baths with blood.
warm water, or, when convenient and suitable, in
some river, pond, or in the open sea. A leather belt
with ring, and a stout rod with line and hook, are em-
ployed by Portuguese mothers to instruct their chil-
dren. The mother, rod in hand, stands on the brink;
the child learns in the water. In Paris swimming.
schools the same procedure is resorted to. The busi-
ness cannot be begun too soon. I saw mere infants
sustaining themselves perfectly in the tepid waters of
Africa. Treading water is far safer than swimming
in a broken sea. Every adult, man or woman, whe
has not practised it should begin. Once the convic-
tion instilled that the body is lighter than water, the
risk of drowning is reduced to zero. The process in-
volves no uncertainty, no delay. Very different from
swimming, it can be acquired at once."

In reference to the above, Mr. Hunter .1. Barron, Hon.
Sec. Swimming Association of Great Britain, writes 0 Ths
Times :

Sir,—Will you permit me to point out a fallacy in
Dr. MacCormac's letter on the subject of drowning,
which appeared in The Times

He says that "the human frame, bulk for bulk, is
lighter than water," and thereupon advises those who
cannot swim "to paddle gently, as the lower animals
do, with hands and feet, the head being held erect,
wherever it is desired to go," and states, " this direc•
tion being carried out is absolutely all that is needful
under ordinary conditions to preserve life.'_ _

Now, the normal human frame is, paradoxical
though it may seem, both lighter and heavier than an
equal bulk of water' as any average swimmer can
easily ascertain. Let him take a deep inspiration,
throw his head well back, and place his arms by his
side ; his legs will now gradually sink till he attains
the vertical position, though his face will remain
above water. If he now make a foreed expiration,
he will sink like a stone. Very expert swimmers
are able, after a forced expiration, to lie quiescent
under water in swimming baths and tanks. I have
used the term "normal human frame" because if
a person is abnormally fat a forced expiration will
probably not increase his specific gravity above that of
an equal bulk of water, and, vice versa, if abnormally
thin and with very small lung capacity, the most
forced inspiration may not make him lighter than an
equal bulk of water. The real reason why people who
cannot swim and are left to themselves when immersed
are invariably drowned is—in the first place, they lose
all presence of mind, and generally throw their arms
out of water and cry-out. The latter, as I have already
explained, tends to make them bulk for bulk heavier
than water, but the former action puts the finishing
touch ; they sink, losing strength, and in great
part losing consciousness also, their struggles become
fainter, and there is generally sufficient air in the
thorax to bring them to the surface again; for an instant
theie is a partial revival, a faint cry or struggle, a
few more cubic inches of air escape from the thorax,
and the unfortunate persons sink, rarely to rise again ;
hence the popular idea of "sinking three times."
Even at this point residual air" is left in the lungs
•
0
therefore, if the body be promptly recovered, artificial
respiration may prove successful.

Dr. MacCormac appears to have forgotten that
quadrupeds go through precisely the same action when
thrown into the water as they would do if on land, but
that the genus homo, not using its fore-legs for progres-
sioil, would certainly not paddle with them when un-
expectedly immersed unless carefully taught to do so;
and it is no more trouble, if as much, to teach people
to swim properly than to "tread water."

"Treading water" is a somewhat indefinite phrase,
though an old one, and my experience is that only
good swimmers can do it strictly according to the
letter; it is, to say the least, a dangerous method of
natation to rely upon on emergency, and is certainly
not "safer than swimming in a broken sea."
The great point for people to bear in mind just now
is that it is the time of the year to be taught to swim
a good, straightforward breast-stroke, and I would
earneFtly urge parents to have their children of both
sexes, over seven years old, taught to swim without
delay, unless forbidden by medical advice; and may I
'here state that girls can be taught to swim, as a rule,
somewhat quicker than boys, and that in the case of
both the longer it is left after 17 or 18 years of age the
more difficult the art is to acquire?