746 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



subsurface chambers, clothed with small blunt tufts, particularly around the edges 

 of the numerous circular, polygonal, or meandering openings. The general super- 

 ficial aspect of the sponge is less shaggy than the sheepswool, and not so smooth 

 as the velvet sponge. 



Honeycomb sponges are generally distributed throughout the Mediterranean, 

 along the north, east, and south shores from the Gulf of Lyons to Algeria, in- 

 cluding many of the islands and the banks of Lampedusa. The Mandrukas are 

 the best— compact, soft, and fine; but those from Tunis, Crete, and Asia Minor 

 are only a little inferior, and are often sold as Mandrukas. Those from Tripoli are 

 rough and coarse, and most of those from the Archipelago but little better. 



The best of these sponges are softer than any American sponge, except the 

 Matecumbe sheepswool; but they are less durable and resilient than the Rock 

 Island wool, and more quickly lose their elasticity in use. 



Honeycomb sponges are very popular for bath purposes, and they are also used 

 by jewelers, silversmiths, leather workers, and as desk sponges by bank tellers, etc. 



Elephant-ear Sponges. These are cup-shaped, or cap-shaped, and have thin 

 walls of uniform thickness, or more or less rolled ear-shaped or fan-shaped plates 

 about 1 inch thick. They usually reach the consumer cut into flat pieces, the shape 

 of which gives the name of "washrag sponge." The vents are in groups of 4 to 6, 

 surrounded by tufts of fibers longer than those in the rest of the sponge. They 

 are confined to the inside of the cups, or to the concave faces of the plates. 



These groups are generally in radial rows, and the face of the sponge, on which 

 they open, often has the appearance of being radially grooved. The opposite 

 surface is covered with soft fibrous tufts, which tend toward a radial arrangement 

 near the rim. Elephant-ears are taken commercially in the Adriatic, the Aegean, 

 on the coasts of Egypt, Tunis, and Algeria, and about Lampedusa and the Balearic 

 Islands. They are fine, soft, and durable, and are used for toilet purposes, and by 

 potters, fine leather workers, cane makers, and hatters. 



A sponge of very similar appearance, but much denser and harsher, is found 

 in the Philippines. 



Methods of Fishery 



Sponges grow attached to the bottom, or, less frequently, to other objects under 

 water; the few unattached individuals, usually of spheroidal shape and known to 

 the spongers as "rollers," are those which have been violently torn from their 

 attachments. 



Wading. The first sponges gathered in Florida, and probably in other regions, 

 were plucked by men wading in the shallows. To this day the natives of the 

 southern part of Tunisia follow a similar method, wading in the water to their 

 necks, detaching the sponges with their toes, and kicking them within reach of 

 their hands and occasionally diving into the deeper holes. 



Nude Diving. This is another ancient method which logically followed the 

 primitive method first described. It is practiced principally in the Mediterranean 

 and a little in the sponge regions of the western Atlantic. The islands of Calymnos 

 and Syme have been noted from ancient times for the skill of their divers, some 

 of whom are said to be capable of descending to a depth of 240 to 250 feet. 

 Ordinarily about 2 minutes is spent under water, and about 30 minutes between 

 plunges; but usually expert divers can remain under water for 4 minutes, and 



