SPONGES AND THE SPONGE INDUSTRY 325 



merce is merely the skeleton of a curious animal that 

 lives in the sea. Sponges have been taken by divers 

 in the Mediterranean Sea since prehistoric times. 

 Sponges and their utilization in the arts were known 

 to the ancient Greeks. Their use is mentioned several 

 times by Homer. 



Glaucus of Anthedon, one of the characters of 

 Grecian mythology, was a sponge diver. Many mar- 

 velous tales are told of this fisherman, boat builder, 

 sailor, and warrior. He is said to have constructed the 

 Argo of the Argonauts, which carried Jason in 

 search of the Golden Fleece. When Jason fought the 

 Tyrians, Glaucus was the only one who was not 

 wounded. Glaucus excelled in diving, and is said to 

 have been able to remain on the bottom a very long 

 time. Palaephatus relates a mythical tale of how 

 Glaucus once dived into a tempestuous sea and swam 

 to the bottom, where he spent several days with 

 Oceanus, returning later with many fish that he had 

 caught while on the bottom. Later, Glaucus dived to 

 the bottom and never returned. His comrades thought 

 that he preferred to live in the sea and attributed 

 supernatural powers to him, placing him with the 

 deity. 



Aristotle tells much about sponges and the methods 

 of sponge fishing employed in his time. He even 

 describes briefly a diving apparatus by means of 

 which air from the surface was furnished the diver 

 on the sea bottom, apparently a tube with an 

 arrangement for pumping down air. The soldiers in 

 the Roman army were supplied with sponges, which 

 they used for two purposes : they were placed inside 



