The things we do!

It consists of a reservoir of thick iron plates, in which I store
the air under a pressure of fifty atmospheres. This reservoir is
fixed on the back by means of braces, like a soldier's knapsack.
Its upper part forms a box in which the air is kept by means of
a bellows, and therefore cannot escape unless at its normal tension.
In the Rouquayrol apparatus such as we use, two india rubber pipes
leave this box and join a sort of tent which holds the nose and mouth;
one is to introduce fresh air, the other to let out the foul, and the tongue
closes one or the other according to the wants of the respirator.
But I, in encountering great pressures at the bottom of the sea,
was obliged to shut my head, like that of a diver in a ball of copper;
and it is to this ball of copper that the two pipes, the inspirator and
the expirator, open."
"Perfectly, Captain Nemo; but the air that you carry with you
must soon be used; when it only contains fifteen per cent.
of oxygen it is no longer fit to breathe."
"Right! But I told you, M.


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