26 SEA-SHORE LIFE 
fibres. The fleshy parts which cover the skeleton are dark brown 
or black, and as the living sponge is usually more or less covered 

Fig 1; LIVING COMMERCIAL SPONGE 
(Glove Sponge) The Bahama Islands. 
with mud or silt it is far from 
attractive in appearance, or 
pleasant in odor. 
There are always a great 
number of little pores on the 
sides of the sponge, and water 
is drawn through these by 
meaus of the constant lashing 
of vast numbers of cilia which 
are borne upon the cells hning 
the passages. ‘This water is 
forced out through one or 
more larger openings at the 
top of the sponge. In this 
manner the sponge tissues 
are aerated and the sponge 
captures the minute organisms upon which it feeds. Commercial 
sponges do not grow at depths greater than 200 feet, and the vast 
majority are obtained in 
water less than thirty 
feet deep, the best varie- 
ties being found at the 
greatest depth. 
The water is so won- 
derfully clear in the re- 
gions where they grow, 
that the fishermen mere- 
ly use a bucket having a 
pane of glass in the bot- 
tom through which they 
look in scanning the bot- 
tom for sponges. ‘The 
sponge is drawn up by 
a pair of hooks fastened 
to the end of a wooden 

- THE HORNY SKELETON OF THE 
COMMERCIAL SPONGE (Glove Sponge) 
from the Bahama Islands. 
pole. It is allowed to die, and is buried in dry sand until it Is 
