THE MUSEUM 



39 



little waviiifj hairs upon their surface, 

 until they reach an age when they 

 prefer security to independence, aiul 

 monotony to danger. It has been 

 proved that in every stage of their ex- 

 istence they live on solid food, and 

 that while thus possessing all those 

 characteristics that are more freciuent 

 among animals than plants, they 

 never contain any traces of the cot- 

 tony and woody substances, especially 

 characteristic of the vegetable king- 

 dom. 



The manner in which the sponge 

 obtains the food necessary for its exis- 

 tence is a wonderful illustration of the 

 way in which nature provides for her 

 children. The water entering the 

 sponge by the small pores passes 

 through a system of branching and 

 tine canals, and is collected again by a 

 similar system into the out-flowing 

 pores. At the junction between the 

 two systems of tubes are the most 

 vital organs of the sponge, little 

 swollen cavities of microscopic size, 

 walled in with tiny living particles, 

 each bearing a vibrating hair, with 

 which it lashes on the current, and a 

 transparent filmy skirt, with which it 

 catches any food that may pass. All 

 this labyrinth of canals and cavities is 

 living soft flesh, and its movements 

 are analogous to those which occur in 

 certain other marine animals. To 

 prevent its falling a prey to the first 

 hungry animal that passes, it is set 

 through and through with little flinty 

 needles or thorns. During life the 

 sponge of commerce shows only the 

 largest of its numerous holes; over all 

 the rest the dark slate-colored flesh 

 forms a continuous film. 



There are, it is asserted, 1 50 dif- 

 ferent species of sponge, but- only a 

 few are utilized in commerce. Of the 

 different kinds the finest and most 

 costly is the Levantine sponge, which 

 is found in the Mediterranean. Ex- 

 tensive sponge fisheries are carried on 

 in the waters about I-'lorida, Cuba and 

 Nassau. The fishery from the latter 

 place is very valuable, giving employ- 



ment to upwards of 6,000 men, in- 

 cluding those who handle the sponges 

 in their various stages and preparation 

 for the market. The exports from 

 Nassau range from $100,000 to $500,- 

 000 every year. The Florida fisheries 

 are also very large. The commercial 

 sponges found there arc regarded as 

 belonging to five different species. 

 They all belong to the genus spongia, 

 and named in the order of their im- 

 portance, are as follows; Sheep's wool, 

 velvet, yellow, grass and glove. The 

 grass sponge is the most abundant of 

 all the sponges found there. It is ob- 

 tained in from three to ten feet of 

 water. It attains a large size, and 

 small grass sponges of four or five 

 inches in diameter are of little or no 

 commercial value. The best ([uality 

 of sheep's wool sponges come from the 

 small keys near Cedar Key, and is less 

 abundant than the grass sponges. The 

 velvet sponge is more limited in its 

 distribution than the sheep's wool, and 

 is said to be decreasing. It grows on 

 live coral bottom in shallow water 

 varying from three to twenty-five feet, 

 the average size being about eight 

 inches in diameter. The yellow 

 sponge is a very common species, and, 

 owing to the poor quality of those 

 now taken, it is not much sought after 

 by the flshermen. The glove sponge 

 is the most circumscribed in its distri- 

 bution of any of the Florida sponges, 

 and commercially it is the least im- 

 portant. 



The method of gathering sponges is 

 by means of iron hooks attached to 

 long poles. They are not poked about 

 blindly at the bottom, as the oyster- 

 man uses his tongs, for by the aid of a 

 glass the fishermen are able to see 

 every inch of the bottom, and de- 

 liberately selects his prey. The glass- 

 es are simple wooden boxes, a foot or 

 more square, open at one end, and a 

 pane of glass set in the other. Hold- 

 ing this perpendicularly over the water 

 or slightly submerged, the fisherman 

 is able to see everything on the ocean 

 floor, no matter how many fathoms 



