ishers. Diving is an ancient custom, and even legendary exploits
of this nature are recorded. Homer compares the fall of Hector's
chariot to the action of a diver; and specially trained men were
employed at the Siege of Syracuse, their mission being to laboriously
scuttle the enemy's vessels. Many of the old historians mention
diving, and Herodotus speaks of a diver by the name of Scyllias who was
engaged by Xerxes to recover some articles of value which had been sunk
on some Persian vessels in a tempest. Egyptian divers are mentioned by
Plutarch, who says that Anthony was deceived by Cleopatra in a fishing
contest by securing expert divers to place the fish upon the hooks.
There was a historical or rather legendary character by the name of
Didion, who was noted for his exploits in the river Meuse. He had the
ability to stay under water a considerable length of time, and even to
catch fish while submerged.

There was a famous diver in Sicily at the end of the fifteenth century
whose feats are recorded in the writings of Alexander ab Alexandro,
Pontanus, and Father Kircher, the Jesuit savant. This man's name was
Nicolas, born of poor parents at Catania. From his infancy he showed an
extraordinary power of diving and swimming, and from his compatriots
soon acquired various names indicative of his capacity. He became very
well known throughout Sicily, and for his patron had Frederick, King of
Naples. In the present day, the sponge-fishers and pearl-fishers in the
West Indies, the Mediterranean, the Indian Seas, and the Gulf of Mexico
invite the attention of those interested in the anomalies of suspended
animation. There are many marvelous tales of their ability to remain
under water for long periods. It is probable that none remain submerged
over two minutes, but, what is more remarkable, they are supposed to
dive to extraordinary depths, some as much as 150 to 200 feet.
Ordinarily they remain under water from a minute to one and a half
minutes. Remaining longer, the face becomes congested, the eyes
injected; the sputum bloody, due to rupture of some of the minute
vessels in the lung. It is said by those who have observed them
carefully that few of these divers live to an advanced age. Many of
them suffer apoplectic attacks, and some of them become blind from
congestion of the ocular vessels. The Syrian divers are supposed to
carry weights of considerable size in their hands in order to
facilitate the depth and duration o