, 1880-08-09
Fleuss, the Diver.


Wdcerley Magazine.
Fleuss, the Diver.
We lately presented, an account Of
Mr.. Fleuss' discovery of method OF
diving and living under water without
recourse to air tubes. As corroborat-
ing what We stated regarding this re-
pA~r Aehle rorson end hio discovery, the
following appears in the Times of April
n:
Mr.. Fleuss made his first appear
Rnce at the Royal aquarium, West
Minister, last night, in the Large tank
built for the whale and used by the
seals. His remarkable performance
under water was better seen than it has
been elsewhere during the few months
of exhibition of his apparatus at the
Polytechnic or at Brighton. He can
stay under water for five hours without
IN air tube or any other communion
hon with the surface; and this absence
of encumbranoe gives him much
greater freedom than other divers pos
sess. He can, for instance, lie down
and bend his body in any position
without fear of being lifted or 2oated
up, and without suffering from the OBJ
struction of the long pipe which usu-
ally connects the head of a diver with
3 boat above.
In short. he possesses the principal
advantage which distinguishes an ami
NAL from plant; he moves independ-
emily instead of being rooted to one
spot. Foreshortened in the water, he
presents a curious appearance, with
great google eyes in his FURNISHED he'll
met, 3 strong water-tight dress, and
water-boot The spectators smuse
themselves by throwing pence for him
TO pick up. or by writing messages to
nina on cardboad, always under water.
He sharpens his pencil under water,
gives and receives signals with cord,
and is to experiment on the submarine
1se OF the telephone. At Ryde he
walked for quarter of a mile under
the sea; at Brighton he went down in
I've fatboms by the chain pier in
rough weather.
IF he could eat under water, Mr..
Fleuss says he could stay for a longer
period than the five hours which he
gives as the ordinary limit. Yesterday
seven minutes under water in the
aquarium, and again went down for
half an hour in the evening.
F'In short lecture on his apparatus
which Mr.. Fleuss gave in the evening
Immediately on returning to the upper
air, he stated that his method is no
secret, that it is patented, and that the
specifications are accordingly pub
lished In every draught of breath we
draw We take in q certain amount Of
oxygen with four times as much nitro
gen. A little of the oxygen becomes
ixed in the form OF carbonic acid, and
the air thus deteriorated becomes un
1T to breathe. If, however, the place
Of the missing oxygen is taken by a
fresh supply, the mixture becomes
again fit for breathing. According to
Mr.. Fleuss, he takes down compressed
oxygen to supply the place of that
which is breathed; in other words. he
has invented set of anti-lungs, which
perform a function precisely the re-
verse of that of the lungs proper.
"This was confessedly rough, pop
liar, hasty and generalized explanation.
A more scientific account may be ex-
pected from the lecture on the subject
which DR.. B. W. Richardson, +. Z. s.,
who is specially qualified for the investi-
CATION by his we'll n-known experiments on
szone, is to deliver at the society OF
arts, It will be remembered that it
was to the same society that Professor
Tyndall explained the freman's respi-
,ator. which has since proved in prac-
lice so valuable an instrument in strain
ing the bad air at fires before it reaches
he lungs, and 80 enabling the fireman
10 breathe what air is left among smoke
md noxious vapors.
"Nr. Fleuss' method is still moro
sffsctual, because he carries his own
supply of oxygen with him in com-
pressed form, and has thus been en-
abled to breathe in an atmosphere In
which there is no appreciable quanti-
~ OF air at all. He states that he has
gone through fre-damp (carburetted
hydregen) and choke-damp (carbonic
Aeid), and could exist in the charged
receiver of gas factory. In the great
helmet and in the hollows of his armor
there is room for a certain quantity of
air, and this is kept fresh and constant
ly renewed by stream of oxygen, the
pressure of which he regulates by tap
at will. To refresh himself, he increas-
ss the flow of oxygen; and when he re-
quires no stimulus, diminishes it.
Mr.. Fleuss is a young and vigorous
man. who has served in the steamboats,
of the Peninsular ond Oriental COM
pany. His apparatus is certainly very
ingenious and effective, and we'll worthy
of attention. -CAanJers Journal.