54 



tendency to deteriorate into a coarse-fibred type ? This 

 latter possibility is suggested, and has to be taken into 

 account in connection with the fact, that no sponges of the 

 finest quality such as the Levant toilet sponge, have been 

 so far obtained from seas productive of reef corals. In the 

 area of the Red Sea, and in that of the east coast of 

 Australia, remarkable in either case for their extensive 

 coral reefs, sponges are relatively coarse and inferior in 

 quality compared with those derived from the reefless 

 Mediterranean. The same rule holds good, likewise, with 

 respect to the existing indigenous sponge-fauna of the coral- 

 producing Bahama and Florida seas. The solution of this 

 important question could be arrived at only by the in- 

 telligent examination, at more or less frequent intervals, of 

 selected individuals under cultivation throughout a period 

 of some years' duration, special attention being directed to 

 any alterations in the character of the fibre, as revealed 

 with the aid of the microscope, developed upon the original 

 framework of the sponges brought from the Mediterranean. 

 Until a practical decision has been arrived at in this 

 direction it would be scarcely desirable to expend a large 

 amount of capital in the importation of living Mediter- 

 ranean grown examples. 



Apart from the proposed acclimatisation of European 

 sponges in the Bahama seas, much, doubtless, could be 

 accomplished towards the improvement and further de- 

 velopment of the existing fisheries. That sponges of a yet 

 finer quality than those, so far obtained from this locality 

 are possibly to be gathered with the aid of the dredge 

 from the deeper waters has been already suggested on a 

 previous page. The question has recently arisen as to 

 whether or not the existing sponge beds, if continually 

 fished, as at present, arc not likely in process of time to 



