SULMARINE RESEARCH AND AERIAL NAVIGATION.
A VISIT to the bottom of the " deep, deep sea," and a voyage through the realms of air, would seem likely to become es easy of accomplish- ment, by means of DEANL'S Diving-apparatus and the Aerial Ship,as a trip to Franco by steam. Ala DEANE, the inventor of the Diving-apparatus, has opened an exhibition at that focus of sights, 2€9, Reateet Street, of some of the various spoils that he has rescued from Neptune's kiegdom, together with his diving•dress and apparatus. The room is lined wi:11 pictures, showieg the different operations he has carried 011 Wider water, and the simple machinary by which lie is enabled to effect theta; and the sides of the floor, made to represent the bed of the ocean, are strewed with the fragments of wrecks. The only valuable trophy exhibited is one of the bras. guns, a four-m(14m. nty pounder, brought tip by Mr. DEANE from the wreck of the Royal George, lying in seventy-two feet of water. Mr. DEANE lEtS not oily recovered anchors and car- goes of sunken ships, but be has succeeded in raisin.,; a foundered vessel (the sloop Endeavour), which has since beell repaired fit for sea. The utility of the apparatus in enabling architects and engineers personally to inspect the foundations of piers, docks, &c. and to effect slight repairs under water with perfect ce-P coin Safety, is evident. It must entirely supersede the during-bell; indeed, it is a dicing-bell for the brad.
Ala DEANE, who attends the exhibition, says that he feels no inconvenienee when under water : he is well wrapped in flannel under- neath a waterproof dress, and is protected frorn the pressure of the water on the chest by as stiff belt ; so that he feels neither cold nor difficulty- of breathing. The light under water is of a greenish hazy hue, and senile:hilt to see a few feet round. At first he carried a lantern, which was supplied with air from that which he had respired; but Ire has since dispensed with it, and the foul air escapes round the shoulders of the helmet. The air-pump is in me vessel above, to which is attached a rope or wooden ladder, and a guide-rope to prevent the diver from wandering too for away. He ascends and descends through the surrounding water with time same case as above ground. This apparatus might be employed with great advantage in the pearl fishery— coral and rare shells might be procured ad libitum. The diver's occu- pation is not gone, but only agreeably facilitated. Leaving the deep, let us ascend in fancy to the region of clouds with the Aerial Ship. This vast machine is the same that was described 111 the Spectator some time ago, as being about to ascend from Paris. It is a cylindrical balloon, with conical ends, floating lengthwise, and
guided by fin-like paddles attached to the balloon, and a rudder like a fish's tail fixed to the car. It has not voyaged through the air from Paris, but has been brought to this country as ignoble luggage, per Steam-boat. It is now in dock in a large building in the Victoria Road, Kensington ; and we very much (louts/ if it will ever be launched into air, though it said to be about to ascenl. It will attract as an ex- hibition, however; for not having been tried, the feasibility of the scheme and the ingenious construction of the machine induce the san- guine to speculate on the probability of its success. The nature of the currents of air in elevated regions has first to be ascertained, however ; andaaken the capabilities of the mechanism to avoid some and render others available to propel the machine. The contrivance for raising and Lowering the air-ship, by means of a small air.balloon within the larger :one, which can be inflated or exhausted at pleasure, upon the principle :of the air-bladder of a fish, is equally simple and clever. Some idea of the magnitude of the machine may be formed from the fact, that it is constructed to carry thirty or forty passengers, and requires a crew ,of seventeen persons to manage it. It' the project succeeds, adventurous voyagers may visit the summit of Mont Blanc, the Peak of Teneriffe, Cotopaxi, and' the Himalaya Chain, without the trouble of climbing, and be literally " wafted from Indus to the Pole."
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