 In 1939 , Albert R. Behnke and O. D. Yarborough demonstrated that gases other than nitrogen also could cause narcosis . For an inert gas the narcotic potency was found to be proportional to its lipid solubility . As hydrogen has only 0 @.@ 55 the solubility of nitrogen , deep diving experiments using hydrox were conducted by Arne Zetterström between 1943 and 1945 . Jacques @-@ Yves Cousteau in 1953 famously described it as " l ’ ivresse des grandes profondeurs " or the " rapture of the deep " . 
