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.
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