ter long training. It is
said that as a rule divers are indisposed to taking apprentices, as
they are afraid of their vocation being crowded and their present ample
remuneration diminished. At present there are several schools. At
Chatham, England, there is a school of submarine mining, in which men
are trained to lay torpedoes and complete harbor defense. Most of these
divers can work six hours at a time in from 35 to 50 feet of water.
Divers for the Royal Navy are trained at Sheerness. When sufficiently
trained to work at the depth of 150 feet seamen-divers are fully
qualified, and are drafted to the various ships. They are connected
with an air-pump in charge of trustworthy men; they signal for their
tools and material, as well as air, by means of a special line for this
purpose. At some distance below the water the extraordinary weight of
the suits cannot be felt, and the divers work as well in armor as in
ordinary laboring clothes. One famous diver says that the only
unpleasant experience he ever had in his career as a diver, not
excepting the occasion of his first dive, was a drumming in the ears,
as a consequence of which, after remaining under water at a certain
work for nine hours, he completely lost the use of one ear for three
months, during which time he suffered agony with the earache. These men
exhibit absolute indifference to the dangers attached to their calling,
and some have been known to sleep many fathoms beneath the surface.
Both by means of their signal lines and by writing on a slate they keep
their associates informed of the progress of their work.

Suspension of the Pulse.--In some cases the pulse is not apparent for
many days before actual death, and there have been instances in which,
although the pulse ceased for an extended period, the patient made an
ultimate recovery. In reviewing the older literature we find that
Ballonius mentions an instance in which the pulse was not apparent for
fourteen days before complete asphyxia. Ramazzini describes a case of
cessation of the pulse four days before death. Schenck details the
history of a case in which the pulse ceased for three days and asphyxia
was almost total, but the patient eventually recovered. There is a
noteworthy observation, in which there was cessation of the pulse for
nine days without a fatal issue.

Some persons seem to have a preternatural control over their
circulatory system, apparently enabling them to produce suspension of
ca