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Miscellany: Colts' Submarine Battery

Miscellany: Colts' Submarine Battery image
Parent Issue
Day
17
Month
October
Year
1842
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

im tembfe engine of dcsiruction seems o us me of the most marked and important nvennons of Ihe present cïay-and dertincd to do ft, th toKvarda the prevention of the liorriblecalamitiescf war, for just in proportion fns tmtmmi conflicts bccome more sureJv sang-u.miry and êxtërminiftirig, will tl.ev becoine of rare otoirrence. By the agency of e ectnoty, ie will be remembered, Mr! Colt' s able from any drstance to explode his instm - ment under a tfesse! and Ihus .end the hihest sbip thronh tbe upper clement, certamly not aflor the mo.t npped sty e of the battery uncler the' vessci, with thev .y„w, aiiu fcpcrecy, is the unexp ained marvel; we find in a communist ion to the Journal of Commerce the followioosuiTgestion of two wnys in which t may be Thefiretis similar to that émployed by Fulton for lus submarine Tornado. One or more of tl,cse b.tteries are to be sunk at the Nnrrovys, or any „ther narrow channel hrough wh.ch a vessel ml]st pass i„ ehtS the liarbor; if the cl.nnnel be sufficiently nart rmv, one battcry will SüfHce; but f (vid the niimber must be increaseti to tl.e numbe of tunes the width of the channel exceedsthat oflhovessd; the tWres from them, propei-Iy numbcred or placed, comtnunicnte with the shore, M'hcre a watch is to be stationetl ready to mnke the connexion necessury for the explosión the instant the vessel has píaced hersclt m the sitiiation to recoive itThe otlier melhod that we eIihII mention, is more ceria.n in it8 operation-is susceptible ot a wioer opphcation, and has the additiona) recommendation of being more novel in líe nature; properly attended (o, it cannot foil of complete and triumphnnt succes?. It isas follows: A boat is to be consimcted upon the principie of the diving-belljor otherwise. with the machino for its propulsión beneath the surrace of tlie water, u, any direction. Till very JatpJy, the want of air 'fit for rcspiration, would have effectuaÜy prevenled the us-e of soefi a boat-the great deree af secrecy ne ces.sary in all its evolutions forbiddmrr the 'cmployment of the usual appnratus connectcd witb divmg hells for the supply of ñe?h air from above; but thanks to the discoveries in science that almost daiJy permit us to cl.is nmong ftmga easily performed, these that werp once thoug-ht impossibJc. the difficultyis now surmounted by the Mowing simple means, tor the dircovery of which. the warld-. s.v,vwcia xuuvMsu 10 uoi. l'overne, Londen. Two Chemical subslances" ore taken down into the boat- ,the ore to absorb he carbonic acid gas as fastas generaled by the !ungs_the o! her. to give oift oxygon S? ' s"PP'y the P'wc of that consümed.rhefirstof thoseis found in pure pot assa, wluch readily absorba halfits own weiht of carbonicacu gns-the other, s the suiphate of potrssa wlnch, when heated, give out a very large proportion of pure oxvgen . With hese two simple borlie?, Colouel Páyeme ately descended in a di ving bell to the bed of the ■ ihames, where he remained fof a lone and huherto unaitained period of seven hours, put oír from all coramunicalion with the upper air without experiencing any of (he unpleasant efiecls sually attendant upon such ekpenments, to the great surprise of a number of d stinguwhed men of sc.ence, who witnessed bis periormancO without the knoivledgo of bw novel nppl.cation of a couple of wel] known facis m Chemistry. A boat couid hus beconstructed for submarino nnvigation witS "ti" 7 -F Wrler fr nny Arable timo with n the 1,, n,ts of twrnly four hourS-to carry the battenes.to their several points of des tinat.on--rhere to sink them or atiach them

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Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News