SPONGES FROM COASTAL BEACHES OF N. S WALES — WHITELEGGE. 61 



above the bottom to avoid smothering with silt, and to avoid the 

 coral, etc., which is apt to grow in with the sponge. Fastenings 

 of just the right character have yet to be invented. 



"Location. — Anywhere within the bays and lagoons free from 

 heavy sea, too strong current, and too much fresh water, and in 

 moderate depths for easy handling and observation. 



"Growth. — This is faster in strong currents, but the shape is 

 apt to be poor and quality harsh. This point, however, is not 

 fully determined. Under favourable conditions the cuttings 

 double their size in 6 mouths; consequently 18 months to 2 

 years will produce marketable sponge. The sheepswool sponge 

 was the only one of the useful kinds experimented on, although a 

 few cuttings of velvet, grass, and others seemed to thrive and do 

 equally well. It is quite possible that with State protection to the 

 planters, and better methods to be determined upon by further 

 experiment, sponge culture might be quite profitable. My belief is, 

 gained in oyster culture from spawn, is that a similar method with 

 sponge will eventually prove the correct one; but until more is 

 known of sponge biology, it would be useless to suggest methods, 

 notwithstanding the fact that several points in connection with 

 it have been, to my mind, quite clearly demonstrated." 



The above clearly shows that sponges may be grown by culti 

 vation, and that to ensure success particular regard must be given 

 to the means by which the cuttings are attached to their support, 

 and more especially to the locality in which they are planted. 

 The cultivation might perhaps be more successful if means 

 were taken to provide material for the young motile sponge to 

 settle upon. After fixation, the material with the attached 

 sponge could be transported to places calculated to encourage 

 rapid growth; and in planting cuttings, it might be advantageous 

 to fix them with the apical portion down. If suspended in this 

 manner, the inhalent pores would be less liable to the influence of 

 silt or mud. It is within my own experience that the finest 

 specimens of sponges, and many other fixed organisms, are 

 generally found suspended under stones or from the roof of caves. 

 Under such conditions they are shaded from excessive light, and 

 possibly have a more abundant food supply, or the inverted posi- 

 tion gives the sponge a better chance of obtaining food. A 

 sponge suspended from the roof of a cave or from a large stone is 

 less liable to injury from large heavy moving objects than it would 

 be on the bottom. 



My colleague, Mr. Edgar R. Waite, informs me that during his 

 diving experience in 1894, in search of the eggs of Heterodontus^' 

 he noticed many sponges in situ. He was particularly struck 



9 Waite — Jour. Linn. Soc, Zool., xxv., 1895, p. 326. 



