MARENZELLER RAISING OF SPONGES FROM CUTTINGS. 773 



experienced persons. They are either taken with tongs or with a drag- 

 net. One arm of the tongs is fastened to a long pole and is immovable ; 

 the other can be moved and pressed against the former by means of a 

 string which, as well as the pole, is held by the gatherer. Objects com- 

 ing between the two arms of the tongs are held firmly in this manner 

 and can be raised from the water, of course from such a depth only as 

 can be reached with the eye and the pole. The sponges are brought up 

 either with their base — and this is the most favorable case — or they must 

 be torn from the base, which operation frequently tends to injure them. 

 Wherever the bottom of the sea is suitable I would recommend* the use 

 of the dredge-net. In Lussin and Lesina I often saw my people work 

 with the so-called O. F. Midler's or Ball's dredge-net or with an apparatus 

 resembling the trawl of the English and American deep-sea fisheries, 

 and the sponges which were brought up were invariably in excellent 

 condition. In gathering sponges for cutting it is entirely unnecessary 

 to select nice-looking specimens, for misshaped pieces which would be 

 worthless in trade are just as good for this purpose as beautifully rounded 

 ones. These latter should not be cut, but should be reserved for the 

 trade. Fishing for sponges with tongs has this drawback, that, properly 

 speaking, it can only be successful when the surface of the water is per- 

 fectly smooth. As the pouring of oU on a gently curled surface does not 

 answer the purpose, Mr. Buccich constructed a simple apparatus. It is 

 a tin-box 32 centimeters square in whose bottom a sheet of glass is in- 

 serted! This box is placed on the surface and through the glass bottom 

 the bottom of the sea is examined*. Mr. Buccich found that it was not 

 expedient to place the sponges as they were gradually gathered into a 

 vessel, to keep them there until they were to be cut, because they are 

 easily injured by pressing against each other or by being shaken too 

 violently. He therefore provisionally fastens them with wooden pegs to 

 the inner side of a sort of fish-box, which is held in tow by the fishing- 

 boat. If the sponges are injured, the injured portions should be imme- 

 diately removed ; the remainder is likewise fastened with wooden pegs, 

 either as it is or subdivided in large pieces. 



When the temperature is low during the cold season, the sponges can 

 be prepared for raising as soon as the place is reached where the pro- 

 cess is to be carried on, while during the warm season it will be found 

 profitable to wait a little in order to see whether there are any indica- 

 tions of putrefaction. This can be recognized by the darker color and 

 the softening of the respective portions. If anything of the kind is no- 

 ticed the sponge should be watched to see to what extent the process of 

 disintegration has progressed. Small sponges will almost entirely fall 

 a prey to it, while in large ones the evd may be confined within certain 



* The Greek sponge-fishers use the same apparatus in the shape of a cylinder 37 cen- 

 timeters wide and 50 centimeters high made of tin, its bottom being composed of a 

 sheet of glass, which is half let down into the sea. See G. v. Eckhel, I)cr Badc- 

 achwamm." Trieste, 1873, p. 12. 



