RESCUE OF LIFE BY SWIMMING, AND EXPERIMENTS THEREON.

THE accompanying Paper is translated from some interesting remarks published, under authority, by M. FERRAND, druggist and Member of the Lyons Board of Health. He was deputed by the French Government to re-organize the system of life-buoys in that country, the insufficiency of which had foreign countries, the most complete de- scription of the different apparatus em- ployed 

:— "While looking" (says M. FERRAND) "at the great display of the resources of civilized nations, works in art, inventions, machinery, go- vernment grants, associations, and international congresses, my subject leads me to speak of a feat which, to my mind, has a peculiar magnifi- cence,—I mean rescue by a single man, without to me particularly cruel. If two hours of care and effort are sometimes necessary to restore a drowned man to life, it often requires but a minute to make him a dead man. The desperate clutch of the dying man undoubtedly has its dangers, but only if you allow yourself to be seized first; and otherwise it is not really as in- surmountable as is believed. As man loses con- sciousness, he gradually releases his hold of the object which he has seized with his clenched hand. Thus, then, from this first point of view there is an exaggerated fear which may cause the loss of a precious moment, as I have just re- life-belt or rope, but stripped for the emergency; ] marked, and with it, the certainty of success; a the man who, with no aid but his own courage, ; moment so precious, that in a deep and agitated throws himself into the waves to save the life of j sea the shipwrecked man may disappear under a fellow-creature at the risk of his own life. The your very eyes, almost within arms' reach, with- difflculty of this operation is generally very great, out any possibility of his being found again. I but it appears to me to be increased to an enor-mous extent, so as to render abortive many at- recommended, as it may be attended with serious tempts, through ignorance of the best method of j consequences. How agreeable would it be to me to blot out from the vocabulary of rescuers the cruel ' Don't touch him.' " But protesting is not everything: all life is precious; and if the difficulty is not absolute, ac- cording to my first statement, it is not the less continuous. How, then, can it be most wisely en- countered? " Don't let yourself be seized, I said; but I must add, be ready to seize the drowning man rapidly from behind him, and at two points simultaneously, to render his body, as far as pos- sible, motionless. Keeping the face out of water, seize him at the same time by the hair with the left hand, and by the right shoulder with the right hand. Thus keep him at a distance, your arms extended in front, and your body in an upright position; then take care of his right arm, and if he throws himself about, if he seeks a point of support which may prevent your turning him on his back, seize this arm below the wrist, because that is the part easiest to take firm hold of, and place it forcibly on your left hand behind his head.

Very quickly, as will easily be conceived, the two bands of the dying man will fix themselves instinctively on the left hand of the rescuer.

If the case is otherwise, if the hands of the man are fastened closely on the side of him who comes to snatch him from death, it does not matter.

"I have thus examined the easiest case, that of some mterestmg remarks published, under the fainting, or at least motionless drowned man; but I will next discuss the case which I have found full of anxiety, and not free from uncer- tainty—that of saving a drowning man who, with- out help, must certainly die, and who, in dis- traction, struggles with the energy of despair.

AH English and other rescuers invariably answer, ' Don't touch him; the sacrifice of your life will ,. . tin tir- t i • be useless: wait till he becomes calm; which too often been made palpable. With this happens after the first spasm.' This waiting may view he procured, both in France and be prudent up to a certain point, but it appears authority, 

accomplishing the rescue of a drowning person, and to bring him easily and safely to the shore, by swimming only.

" I have frequently questioned retired boatmen of the Khone, Saone, and elsewhere, all tried men for courage and skill, and their unanimous .reply has been:' A drowning man must be taken hold of as best possible: you are lucky if you can simply support him, if a boat or a rope is seen at hand; in the absence of these you must either push him on before you, or drag him, according to circum- stances.' But, I answered, what happens if you are unable to hold the head of the drowning man long enough out of water ? ' Suffocation takes place while he is in your hands.' " The method which has most interested me is that performed by an Englishman named HODGSON, of Sunderland; and after having experimented on and developed it, I recommend it for its preci- sion and efficacy. It consists in holding the drowning man by the hair, and turning him on his back. Then the salvor turns over rapidly with his face upwards, places the head of the man on his breast, and thus swims to land. This method is so simple and easy, that in an experi- ment which 1 had the pleasure of making this autumn with my friend Dr. BRON, I was able with ease to practise simultaneously the rescue of two persons more or less motionless. One of them did | The rescuer is bound not to return alone. His not know how to swim, and that was a great dilfi- : head is kept free from all surprise, and his legs are out of reach. Really, it is in consequence of line, so important to aid us in advancing, and j the formidable ardour of the drowning man in hindered me considerably by lying along my aide j seizing on the trusting hand which first approached like an immovable oar on the side of a boat. | him, or the leg or sides which come within his of water. If he is bald, support him by the beard or chin, or even by the top of his coat collar (for generally the drowning are clothed). Keep your right hand free to help you in swimming, or to "The drowning man, then, should be held with | reach (in order to throw himself finally on the the left hand, his face, and Ms face only, being out j neck of the rescuer, as if his head were a safety- buoy), that the measures and precautions which I have just described are all indispensable. Under these conditions the rescue will probably be no longer obstructed.

" When the drowning man has sunk to the bottom, lie often reappears once or twice on the surface, and by that tome, when he is reached, his exhausted strength renders him by no means dangerous; and in ail cases, the muscular relaxa- tion having destroyed ail his tightness of grasp, the process of taking him to land has no longer the violent character of which I have just spoken.

If the man you are saving is conscious, encourage him, sustain him a minute with your outstretched arm while taking hold of him by one of the arm- pits ; tell him to keep Us legs stretched oat, as yon are going to place Ms head on your breast, and carry him off in complete safety.

" Bat the third situation, which causes me most anxiety, la that of the man who dives, and who, by reason of the refracting medium in which he finds himself, distinguishes only with difficulty, that is from close quarters and like a cloud, the ascertain shape of the drowning man, who is moving about at the bottom of the water; he may then be surprised and seized at random, for the drowning one sees no better, and is, more- over, perfectly unconscious. The judicious bold- ness of the rescuer must then make him consider the time that passes away, for the danger exists only during the first moments; and in this most difficult case, if there is any resistance, the diver must confine his exertions to thrusting the man to the surface, in order to take hold of him with more certainty and strength after he has breathed, " It is not, then, without reason that I persist in saying that, however perilous be the situation which has come about, the proceeding which con- sists to taking hold of a drowning man, who is un- conscious, or who has not come to bis full senses, or even of one who la in the last convulsions of death, is perfectly and readily practicable.

"To enforce my convictions on this point, I invite the reader to follow for a moment the narra- tion of the experiences and calculations which I subjoin. It is well known that a body plunged into the water has its weight diminished by a quaniity equal to the weight of the quantity of water displaced by the body; let us see what is the quantity of water displaced by the drowning man, and consequently what is the difference in the weight to be supported by the rescuer. Ac- cording to my experience, an adult, weighing 75 kilogrammes,* displaces 73 litres, and therefore weighs no more than 2 kilos when it is entirely submerged. If the head is oat of water, the volume of water displaced is necessarily less, and the total weight borne is augmented fey from 4 to 6 kilos.

In both cases this is & weight easily borne, un- doubtedly varying with different persons; a weight that can be still further reduced, as I will proceed to show, I have found the weight of a human head of middling size to be 4| kilos; plunged into water, it displaces exactly 4 litres i = 4 kilos in weight. So there was only this ! weight of | kilo to keep the head at the bottom of the water; and consequently a force of | kilo employed to support the head would keep it at' the top of the water.

"I have said that this quantity, little at the most, was certainly a little variable according to the individuals and their ages} for with young sub- jects, or those who are lean and withered, the specific gravity is s little higher, but it may be diminished at will to some extent; it is sufficient for the swimmer to introduce into his chest a greater or less quantity of air to augment his volume, arid so diminish his specific gravity. If, instead of 2 Etrcs of air, the quantity which he has in his lungs, he takes a long breath and in- spires 4 litres, the quantity which his lungs can I * The French " kilogramme" or " kilo " is equal to 2 Ibs.

avoirdupois, and the "litre" to I 3/4 pints.

contain, he can support so much the greater weight. This explains not only how those who ate less skilful saa float on their »ck, *xA how also, by keeping nothing but the face of the drowning man out of the water, the weight can be reduced to 8 kilogrammes only.

" The trunk of the body has then very nearly the same specific gravity as water; hut during life, and especially when long breaths are taken, it becomes lighter than water.

" If the question is raised as to whether the posi- tion of the rescuer tying on his back is quite necessary, I answer that I can recommend it only after thorough study, and that I can justify that recommendation. In considering their exact ad- vantages, I have eome to the following conclu- sions; —In swimming on the back, 1 easily prac- tised the simultaneous rescue of two adults whose heads were placed on my breast; and in another experiment, I found it impracticable to save a single youth of fifteen years old resting on my shoulders, swimming in the ordinary way. To show how far the first-named experiment could be carried, 1 performed the following experiment: a weight of 12 or even 15 kilos placed on the chest of the swimmer was easily supported above the surface of the water; whilst the same weight attached to the nape of the neck or to the shoulders pressed so heavily on the supporter of it, that he was soon obliged to place himself in an upright position in order to get breath, and to demand, in a gasping tone, to be released from his load, In other words, it was simply like fasten- ing a stone to the neck to drown one's self, " One of these two positions then was defective, that of swimming OB the stomach. "Why i» this ? for it seems to be more natural and preferable, espe- cially as offering the aid of the two arms to swim- ming, and of being able to see in front. I think the explanation is to be found in the estimate of weights which I have just given, proving that he who swims in the most customary manner on the stomach, is really heavier than he who swims on his back. The difference is in the man himself, for, in the ordinary way, he has to bear the weight of his own head (4 kilos) in addition to Ms bur- den (12 kilos), whilst in swimming on the back, the head is submerged all but the face, and the weight which the swimmer has to support becomes that much leas. Other scientific estimates may also be called in to the support of this preference which I give to swimming on the back. Is it not » scientific fact, that a body plunged into liquid uadergoes from this liquid a vertical pressure equal to the volume of the liquid which it dis- places ? How, in swimming on the stomach, this pressure compresses the chest, which is the dila- table part, and thus readers most painful the deep inspirations required after prolonged efforts.

" Is it not also certain that the stability of a floating body Is so much the greater in propor- tion to the lowness of position of the centre of gravity ? It is for this reason that in ships the heaviest bodies, together with the ballast, are placed in the hold.

" In swimming on the back, the rescuer thus has more stability, his chest is more dilatable, his respiration less difficult, bit specific gravity lightened by the greatest possible introduction of exterior air; he is free from every obstacle, and his hands, being so much freer, easily sustain and protect Mm whose life he wishes to save.

" In such cases respiration is often rendered difficult, and the strength is diminished by the sudden impression of cold, by exaggerated efforts, and, above ail, by emotion. In these circum- stances the rescuer, in order to preserve all his power of action, must carefully manage his breathing, as in other spheres the singer and the clever wrestler have to do : thus he will succeed, ] when he requires to call up the presence of mind of which he is capable.

" To discover the point where a drowned man is, who has disappeared in calm water, the bubbles of air which rise to the surface are a sure indi- cation for the diver.

" Finally. Such is my confidence in the method above described that 1 desire to make it known by all possible means, and, above all, by the prac- tice of my directions in all swimming schools. In effect, I propose to make as many men capable of saving their fellow-men as there are swimmers, and thus to augment the chances of safety for all who are in peril of drowning."