A SUBAQUEOUS CITY. 149 



lent enemies, it at the same time allows full 

 ingress and egress to the life-giving river which 

 runs through its midst. What more could it do ? 

 What more could we do in like circumstances ? 



We do not credit the Sponge with conscious 

 intelligence ; nevertheless intelligence there is 

 somewhere, and united with, or manifested in 

 and through, such a humble form of life, appeals 

 with irresistible force to something akin to it in 

 our own breast a responsive divine echo, saying, 

 " I am here also." 



A very striking feature in our Sponge city is 

 the osculum, which, rising to a great height, like a 

 vast chimney built by man to carry off smoke and 

 poisonous vapours from burning furnaces beneath, 

 seems designed for a similar purpose, for all the 

 effete and waste matter of the Sponge community 

 is carried off by this exhalent funnel, and to such 

 a distance from the pores as to prevent its return. 



The structure of this funnel is remarkable, being 

 composed of an extension of the membrane, drawn 

 out to the finest gossamer-like tissue, so that its 

 weight does not prevent its being carried out and 

 extended far beyond the boundary of the colony or 



