Diving

Diving. The 'treasures of the deep' have at all times been the subject of much visionary exaggeration, and the accounts of the exploits of divers equally extravagant. Thus, it is sometimes affirmed that the pearl-divers of the East acquire by practice the power of remaining under water from 15 to 20 minutes, or even two hours. It need scarcely be said that these accounts are absurd, no such endurance being possible. The more skilful divers may remain under water for 2 or even 3 minutes; and 4 minutes 29½ seconds is claimed to have been attained in a glass tank (see PEARL). Most divers suffer severely from the continual efforts in holding the breath; blood-shot eyes and spitting of blood are common among them. It is noteworthy that if one about to dive breathes hard for a short time, he is then able to hold his breath much longer under water (see SWIMMING). The rude mode of diving is now but little used except for pearl and sponge fishing. Even for these purposes the diving apparatus is now largely used, the diver thus collecting, it is computed, as much as twenty naked divers under the old primitive regime, and being able to remain from two to four hours under water. In the Mediterranean sponge-fisheries, hundreds of sets of diving apparatus have long been in use, and the dress has been introduced into the fisheries at the Bahamas, Bermuda, Australia, &c.