74 THE WORLD OF THE SEA. 
or dredging them up. This latter plan is liable to tear the sponge, 
and therefore those which are so collected are sold at a much 
cheaper rate than those which are brought up by hand. 
In the Gulf of Mexico, where they grow in shallow water, the 
fishermen drive down a long pole into the water and fasten it to 
the side of the boat. They slide down this to the sponges, and 
easily detach them. After they are taken from the water they are 
cleaned, to separate them from the glutinous matter and the spicule 
and other foreign bodies which they contain. When so prepared 
A PIECE OF SPONGE, GREATLY MAGNIFIED. 
* 
the tissue is of a russet colour, more or less golden. Its elasticity 
and its porosity are well known. Some kinds are always dark- 
coloured, others gradually lighten their shade and in time become 
almost white. 
M. Lamiral has published an excellent memoir upon the accli- 
matisation of sponges in the French waters of the Mediterranean. 
He avers that unless this is done and there is some regularity in 
their gathering, sponges will become very scarce, for at present the 
demand is increasing and the supply decreasing. The French 
Acclimatisation Society gave M. Lamiral a commission in 1862 
to gather Syrian sponges full of germs, and plant them in suitable 
localities on the French coast, but as yet no results have rewarded 
the undertaking. 
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