SWIMMING, the art of propelling one's self through water by motions of the arms and legs; is a highly useful art and a gymnastic exercise of the first order. It has been introduced as a feature of physical training in some public schools. There are numerous me chanical aids to the teaching of swim ming, in the form of cork floats, cork jackets, and many inflated india-rubber contrivances. In midsummer, 1875, Cap tain Boyton paddled himself, clad in a dress of the latter description, across the English Channel from Cape Grisnez to South Foreland; but the most wonderful swimming feat on record is that of Cap tain Webb, British Mercantile Marine, who in August, 1876, swam from Dover to Calais without artificial floats. The distance as the crow flies is 221/2 miles, but owing to tides and currents the course traversed by Webb was at least 15 miles longer, and the time occupied was hours. Two years later a sim ilar feat was accomplished by Mr. Cavill in 12 hours, Cape Grisnez and South Foreland being the points of departure and landing.
Till April 7, 1886, a much-disputed question was the length of time a person could remain under water. On the date given J. Finney, in a tank at the Can terbury Theater of Varieties, London, remained below the surface 4 minutes seconds, which time will probably never be equaled, the nearest approach to it being 3 minutes 18% seconds on Sept. 27, 1889, by Miss Annie Johnson. The best plunge or standing dive, the body which has to be kept face down ward having no progressive action im parted to it other than the impetus of the dive, stands to the credit of G. A. Blake, who on Oct. 10, 1888, at Lambeth Baths, did 75 feet 7 inches. Among other re markable performances those of T. Burns who dived from Runcorn Bridge (85 feet) in October, 1889, and then swam to Liverpool, from whence he walked to London and dived off London Bridge.