BOTANIC MATERIA MEDICA, 395 
of albumen or fibrin, when kept at a tempera- 
ture of 100° F, Pepsin is used in feeble diges- 
tion in doses of 2 to 10 grains, and administered 
in form of wine, liquor, etc. For further infor- 
mation see Dispensatory. The name is from 
the Greek word fesso, or pepso, I digest ; French, 
pepsine. 
Spongia, Sponge (Spongia officinalis).—Be- 
longs to the class Spongida, or as some natural- 
ists have it, Poriphera, and the order Cerato- 
spongia. The sponge was long thought to be 
of vegetable growth, but it is now proven to be 
of animal origin; they are found attached to the 
rocks in the Mediterranean Sea, Grecian Archi- 
pelago, and the waters of the Bahama and West 
Indian Islands. The Turkey or Mediterranean 
sponges are best known, but even many of these 
are of inferior quality. The best, however, are 
fine and soft in texture and cup-shaped, and 
composed of a mesh-work of solid interlacing 
threads or filaments, averaging in diameter 
about one millimeter. Of course, the common 
varieties of sponge present under the micro- 
scope filaments of a much coarser nature, and 
numerous spicules of various forms. 
The Mediterranean sponges are sorted out as 
follows: Cups, toilets (which are of all sizes 
and shapes), toilet baths, carriage, and brown 
Turkey sponges. These, with the West India 
and Florida, boat or sheep wool, velvet, grass, 
and glove sponges are about the list of the kinds 
found in the market. Sponge contains, besides 
the many impurities lurking within its meshes, 
various salts of todine, bromine, potassium, lime, 
and a substance termed sfongin. Sponges are 
