Curiosities from 150 years of The Engineer archive

This strange-looking device, reportedly referred to by its inventor as the 'self-swimmer' was, wrote The Engineer, 'intended to maintain the body at the surface of the water whether the person can swim or not and that without the necessity of a single movement'.

'This is made possible,' claimed the magazine, 'by the particular shape of the apparatus, it being elongated at its superior part and gradually enlarged as it extends over the breast; terminating at the loins as a truncated or rounded cone.'

Although the article does not explain how the device would be used, it reports that the size of it can be varied — presumably according to the size of whoever is using it. 'The apparatus may be divided in two, three, or more pairs, these parts being united by straps. The size of the apparatus varies according to the purpose for which it is intended; for salvage purposes taking the more developed form.'