58 RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 



In 1863, experiments in sponge culture were commenced at the 

 island of Lesina, in the Adriatic Sea, under the direction of G. 

 Buccich. The results were fairly successful, but the experiment 

 was discontinued in 1872, owing to the opposition manifested by 

 the sponge fishermen. Dr. Emil von Marenzeller published a 

 detailed report on these experiments" from notes made by the 

 director. Since the latter date, many experiments have been 

 made, both in Europe and America, of which the American 

 culturists appear to have been the most successful. 



The results of experiments in Florida are summarised by Mr. 

 E. J. Allen^: — "The first trials were made at Key West, by the 

 agent of Messrs. McKessan and Robbins," of which the following 

 brief report was prepared: "The sponges were all raised from 

 cuttings; the localities in which they were planted were not the 

 most favourable for sponge development, and their growth was 

 therefore less rapid and perfect than might otherwise have been 

 the case. They were fastened to the bottom, in a depth of two 

 and a half feet of water, by means of wires and sticks running 

 through them. The four specimens sent to Washington were 

 allowed to remain down about six months before they were 

 removed. Fully four months elapsed before they recovered 

 from the injury done in the cutting, and the actual growth 

 exhibited was for about two months only. The original height of 

 the cuttings was about two and a half inches. One was placed in 

 a cove or bight, where there was little or no current, and its 

 increase in size was very slight. The other specimens were placed 

 in tide-ways, and have grown to from four to six times their 

 former bulk. Two hundred and sixteen specimens in all were 

 planted at the same date, and at the last accounts those that 

 remained were doing finely." 



The Florida experiments indicate a more rapid growth of the 

 cuttings than those conducted at Lesina. In the latter locality 

 the planted cuttings increased to about twice or thrice their original 

 size during twelve months' growth; whilst at the former place the 

 increase was from four to six times in six months, the actual 

 growth taking place in two months. G. Buccich, who directed 

 the Lesina operations, estimated that it would take from five to 

 seven years for sponge cuttings to grow to a marketable size. 



Mr. G. Bidder,'' in summarising tlie Florida experiments, 

 calculates that two and a half-inch cuttings would attain a 

 marketable size in six months. Mr. T. Lee" reports that the 



3 Marenzeller— Ver. K. K. Geol. Bot. Ges. Wien., xxxvii., 1879, pp. 

 687 - 694. 



4 Allen — Loc. cit., p. 193. 



5 Bidder — " Notes on Projects for the Improvement of the Sponge 

 Fisheries," Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc. United Kingdom, (n.s.), iv., 1896, App., 

 p. 201. 



6 Lee— U.S. Fish. Commission Eeport, 1886, p. 664. 



