RESTORING THE APPARENTLY DROWNED.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 221, 6 January 1877, Page 2

RESTORING THE APPARENTLY DROWNED.

A new instrument for the purpose of resuscitating asphyxiated persons, and particularly those who have—been- ; in dinger of drowning, has been invented bjr a "French doctor, M. Weillez, ahcTmay be . applied to similar uses.in. of a dike'nature. It is called the "spirophore,'' and consists of a sheet-iron cylinder, large enough to, receive thft .body, of, ajx adult.. person, j This end, and the body of the person to be operated upon is inserted feet foremost at the open end up to a diaphragm is placed in such a manner as to prevent air from entering the cylinder. An auspmop i&.thfin,sefcioiw6rk'>/theair is drawn off from the cylinder,, with the, result of vacuum',"when" .thfe 'outer air by its ojr 1 n J ,,wjjigh,t,fprces itself into the lungs through the mouth and nostrils, which are exposed to' the exter•narair; by an opposite action of the. pump the air is allowed to re-enter the cylinder, and,,xespirafcion—i3"thereby-i»->-itiated. A glass plate inserted in the cylinder enables 'ine operator to watch fhe movements.' of wbicli-rises and falls, as in life, with the alternate working oF the pump ; ' these may be repeated about eighteen times a minute, .and an exact imftafcioh of'naWraT breathing is th^xs^J. promises to supersede what is known as the " the v apparently drowned,, the ,nanie aCiis.inventor, a London is the mode adopted by the Royal Humane Society," a*M 'consists' "of" causing 'respiratory movem6nt»»of walls of "the* chest : by anns'of the patient as lie lies on his back. In this lungs "are only par-' tially filled bytlie means of much air enters the'lungsatleach inspiration as in ordinary'breathing, atfd more than a hundredjitres of air maybe passeel, through 'ttie-'laifgs l 6t in ten nunntes, while a l*eaJtJry .pejson\Awdnld not breathe ijiore4han-Aalf : "fcaVamtftiht'/

There is no fear of rupturing the lungsytas j no force is used in the ingress of the Jr ♦ The art of rowing, as practised at the pT^sep^time^-seems— likely to be the_sub T _ jectof an, innovation of a far more radical nawpeUh'Jri Wen the'introduttioh- ttf'the be."" "XnTnahy parts" of lOtago the idea of building of the slightest possible Mescrlptron, and ihen putting weight in the person of a coxsjjainjjs thoughii- to be an ,pn, the "broad, rivers, andspacious'lakes of'theoiew world steering is ' 'done'' either in: the';stct' 6f 'rb wiftg'. bir b£; a mechanical contrivance' operated' upon by; ; ~the oarsman rowing stroke. •■: This was the method- adopted■% the-'American -crew'Wh'cf cam'e'bver' idur-pa,r', o.n't jie / JLon.dpn water., two.. : or three-years-ago: - The objection-to this ' mode' 'b'F'st'e'dring on b'ur' narroV and often ; manifest .enough, and, who can'see. where lie''is-going' is essential b'oth'ibr safety and/comfort pf,the'cre>K v ,'whP, i if.they are.to.awid collision, 1 - must -be : "continually • 'round' in "a '/very awkward.','and . ihcpn,-,, venient manner..in ; order ,to -see: what is.i before-them:- • 'An American' inventor 1 lias' '■■ patented a ; c.ontriXfwi ce^by, ' 'which, .without, any' alteration -whatever- in.. .ih.fi mode'of 'Towingy- the : "course 'Pf-tli'e i boat Is just reversed.,' o'rdi-, "nary -ro.wloeks - and 4nto two portions. "By fitting each portibti : of ,'thp oar upon and. connecting • the two.by..a-.BhorbiroiiMrod';a-pull' from•the oarsman imparts bick-water stroke ,'tp u the. .blade,,..and, the ? ;,boat, instead. of : travelling propelled-nr-the direction in which the oarsman is looking. "He can ,thus ,see ; .to.steer, himself, either, •by the action of'his-oar-or- by-the •American pedal arrangement before alluded to, ' and a coxswain is tlvjr'jf 01-3 entirely superseded. •■<• The- arrahgcmont-tidds about' five' pounds- to .the weight' of <??.ch 'pair of - oars in a boat, but it is. said £0 afford a strongerand longer stroke, while for the average Cockney oarsman' -it has the- peculiar 'aclvontaju of reducing his li:il>ility to '•' catch crabs," : of the bar before instead' of behind him at the bsgin--•iunrr of the stroke, and can therefore sse what he 'h doing. , From. ; a,humorous, spectator's,.ppint.pf view this.is a, decided disadvantage, but it would no doubt tend to the.-safety -and satisfaction:'"of'' the majority-of' oarsmen, : while - the' 'ci-.p'lb'i'lfiy' of ro.viri« forward' rtistead"of "'backward' will be recognised'as a great 'desideratum by all who have tried canoe paddling.