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THE COMMERCIAL SPONGES AND THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 451 
when hooking would be absolutely impossible the frequent gales and strong 
northers which sweep the Gulf of Mexico in winter and early spring are factors 
that have to be reckoned with, and the proportion of days of enforced idleness is 
considerable. 
The turbidity of the water is also a factor, and while it is rarely absolutely 
prohibitive, as with the hookers, it at times more or less seriously interferes with 
the efficiency of operations. When the water is clear and the light good, the 
diver can see plainly at a distance of some yards, but on cloudy days in turbid 
water sponges more than a few feet away will escape notice, especially if the 
bottom be covered with gorgonians and similar growths. It will be readily 
understood that under such conditions the efficiency of the diver is much reduced, 
so that he must necessarily miss many sponges that would be readily found under 
more favorable circumstances, and that while moderately clear water is not 
essential, as in the earlier methods of sponging, its relative prevalence is reflected 
in the balance sheet at the end of a trip. 
The ability of the diver to penetrate to a depth beyond that accessible to the 
hooker is of value only if sponges extend into the deeper water. That this is the 
case to some extent has already been demonstrated, but there is as yet no 
indication that the beds extend to depths equal to those attained in the Medi- 
terranean. The advantage in the efficiency of the two methods at depths of 4o 
feet or more, where the hooker is approaching his limit, is vastly in favor of the 
diver, who can work there in average weather, while the hooker can operate only 
under very rare combinations of favorable conditions. 
Finally, the diver is able to gather sponges which, while within the limits of 
the hooks, are so situated as to be invisible or inaccessible from above. As has 
been stated elsewhere, the bottom on the beds is rough and irregular, and many 
sponges grow in crevices, on overhanging ledges, or hidden by masses of coral, and 
can not be gathered by the hooker. The diver walking over the bottom can find 
and secure almost everything, stripping the bottom almost bare if he wishes. 
KILLING AND CURING. 
When a sponge is brought to the surface a certain amount of air immediately 
enters its pores and replaces the water in some of the canals and chambers. In- 
this condition it will float, and the spongers, taking this as a sign of death, 
believe that the sponge is killed immediately upon exposure. If the floating 
sponge be left to itself, however, most of the entrapped air is soon expelled 
by the pressure of the water and it will then sink and become a “‘roller.’’ The 
air can also be expelled without injury to the sponge by gently squeezing it 
under water. The hookers have always killed their catch by prolonged exposure 
on the decks of the vessels, the sponges being carefully placed “root”? down, so 
as to facilitate the escape of the ‘‘gurry,”’ or liquefied organic matter which 
