The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1871-11-25
THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA.
The Marine nIole-A Wonderful Enven
tion-Nearly Two Hundred Feet I'm
der Water.


The Marine MOle-A Wonderful Gnven-
tion-Nearly Two Hundred Feet I'm
der Water.
The tolpa marina, or marina mole, is
a recent invention of Signor Toselli, of
Naples, by which he descends into the
sea with plenty of air and plenty of
room, and is enabled to continue for
four hours his minute scientific obser-
vations on surrounding submarine life
at a depth of 81 fathoms Q86 feet) I'M
der water.
This wonderful machine has been
built at Sestri de Poneate, near Geneva,
after Signor Toselh's plans, and the in
ventor made his first experiment in the
Bay of Naples on the Goth of August,
in the presence of the local authorities
and several officers of the royal navy.
We give translation of description
of the apparatus us printed i'll an Ital
ian periodical: cit is four yards eight
inches long, cylindrical in form, and
made entirely of iron and bronze Its
diameter is about one yard four inches
1t Is divided into four superposed com
partments or diaphragms, the centra
one being reserved for the divers
The upper chamber contains the com
pressed air necessary for respiration
during immersion. The lower chamber
acts like the ir-bladder of fishes, as il
| increases or diminishes the weight o.
the machine proportionably to tn,
quantity of water it displaces Finally
the last compartment, which is at the
end of the cylinder, is filled with tn,
necessary quantity of lead to keep the
machine in avertical position, like m
arometer-, Several holes, fitted witt
| bronze round the surface, admit of var
ious contrivances, without which i
would be incomprehensible how man
Theoretically shut up in what might b,
called an iron castle. could eaten exter
nal objects, bore, secure by the means
of ropes, and collect them
The same paper, in its following
number august 2S), adds: owe have
received letters from Naples, which
coptirm the reported success of Signo
Teselli's first descent into the Bay o
Naples, by means of his diving aparat
rs, at a depth of thirty-f five fathoms-
namely, under pressure Of SIX atmos
pheres. x The weather coult
not have been lovelier, nor the SCI
more calm. AS soon as the crowd o
distinguished invited witnesses had az
rived at Baia-the chosen place for tn
experlment-they were met by Admin
able de Viry and his staff.
The experiment began about noon
After soundings had been taken, TIL
machine, then empty, was sunk int
the sea, and left for some time at
depth of thirty fathoms, to try if i
would bear the pressure without he
ing smashed; as soon, however as
was again seen floating upon the SUI
face OF the water without having receiy
ed the slightest injury, the bys tander
entertained no doubts Of SignOr 'Cotelli'
safety, whilst he. perfectly ca m, go
into his marine mole, and de 3cende
slowly to the bottom of the sea- Tn
lowering of the machine through thirt
fathoms of water took three and one
half minutes. When, after while,
was seen floating again, and when til
lid opened, Signor Tosselh came on
smiling and serene, cheering burst on
from every side.
"During his sojourn at the bottom
of the sea Signor Toselli wrote the fol
lowing report of his experiment to tn
well.known director of the RoTal Oh
servatory of the Vesuvium, Signor Pal
mleri, who was a witness of the expert
m6nt, and expressed himself highl,
satisfied with it.
'ESIR: The sensations / experience
at this moment are SO strange and nu
merous that should / wait to write then
| down / am sure they would slip from
my memory.
'First Of all, ] must tell you that tn
water here does not look like itself an
longer, but seems really to be a motion
less mass of transparent glass, quit
luminous enough to allow of reading
and writing.
1.-The bottom of the sea seemed a
first to hurry toward me; then | saw
stop, and after a while glide away from
me. / was quite astonished ut this
and almost feared lest my eyes shouIt
be diseased: but, by observing hat til
movements of the manometer kept i
direct communication with the sea,
felt treasured, having at once sHrmise,
the cause Of the apparent movement
! When [ fancied the bottom of the Sc
was running toward me, il was proc
| that | was sinking with a certain speed
when the bottom seemed to have stop
ped moving, it was myself, i'll fact, VIII
| did not move; and when the bottom
sunk rapidly, us If running away from
me, | was then ascending tOW.rd tn
surface.
:" 1t is very amuseing to see 50 man.
fishes swimming to and fro on all sides
and to be able to enjoy SO curious
spectacle without experiencing tn
slightest inconvenience.
"Such silence prevails here that i
would seem terrible to some people
| but | consider it, on the con rary,
peculiar sort Of pleasure to breath IL
such medium.
''The barometer marks 81 centime
tres of pressure, the igrometer in IN,
cell indicates % degrees ana she ont
outside only 10. The manomei en- com
municating withthe sea shows the deptl
| to be 81 fathoms. The other manOme
ter still marks two atmosphere, whicl
tells me that there is still air enough
IN the chamber to allow me 30 stol
here four hours longer, without run
ming any danger of sutfocatlon.
"All the contrivances of my machiI
perfectly answer the purpose L had Il
view, except the lid, which shuts anc
| opens too slowly.
" | can venture to say that hav
| hit the mark at once. This makes M
feel an indescribable JOY, which | wisl
to share with Won, and with all thos,