Progress

http://books.google.com/books?id=UeIvAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

From an 1891 Strand article on curious inventions:

  • To combat seasickness, “The passenger’s chair is attached to a balloon, the chair being connected to the deck by a ball and socket joint; to keep the balloon from swaying too much, it is attached to a rod above.”
  • A four-poster bed that can be converted into a bath. “The canopy above forms the vessel for the shower bath, the water being pumped up through a pipe in one of the four uprights.”
  • Below, a military cloak that doubles as a close tent. “The cloak can be suspended by the hood, holes can be made in the lower edge of the cloak for the passage of pegs, and the cold may be kept out by means of the customary buttons and buttonholes.”

http://books.google.com/books?id=UeIvAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

“On the first blush this sounds rather a good idea, and almost practicable, till the thing is looked into more closely. We then find that the cloak must either be very, very large for the wearer, or, on the other hand, the tent must be very, very small for the occupant. … We are not told what happens to the sleeves when used as a tent; perhaps one is stuffed with straw to keep out the cold, the other being used as a chimney or ventilator!”