Why diving is a work of art

QUESTION Where does the word ‘snorkel’ come from? When were snorkels invented?

RudimentaRy air tubes have been used by divers for thousands of years. Sponge farmers on Crete are thought to have used a hollow reed to breathe through from the bottom of the sea in 3000BC.

in his On the Parts Of animals text (c.350BC), Greek philosopher aristotle refers to divers using ‘ instruments for respiration’ resembling an elephant’s trunk. He also described the early use of a diving bell.

But credit for the first contemporary snorkel goes to Leonardo da Vinci. His hollowedtube creation was designed to be attached to a diver’s leather head covering or helmet.

the word snorkel has a separate, but related origin. a submarine or u-boat snorkel was a device that allowed the watercraft to operate submerged on diesel power while still taking in air from above the surface.

the air needed to aspirate the engine would be sucked in through one tube while the exhaust would be expelled through another. With the snorkel having such a small profile, it made the boat difficult to detect by radar.

the word derived from the German navy slang schnorchel meaning ‘nose’ or ‘snout’, related to schnarchen, ‘to snore’ and so called for its resemblance to a nose and its noise when in use.

Gerald Florrie, St Andrews, Fife.

QUESTION How are flu viruses ‘netted’ for the purpose of making vaccines?

FuRtHeR to the earlier answer, i was involved in a similar process back in the early Sixties.

i was a student and worked in my summer holiday at Glaxo Laboratories in Greenford as part of a small unit injecting eggs, which was part of the process of making a fowl pest vaccine.

it was repetitive work, but we had a laugh with the regular workers and the wages meant i could afford to go on holiday.

June Lucas, Greenford, Middx.