THE COMMERCIAL SPONGES AND THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 453 
strung so as to make the largest possible number of bunches by placing the 
minimum number of sponges on each, a subterfuge which rarely deceives the 
watchful buyer, who reduces his bid accordingly. 
The diving boats at first followed the same methods, but afterwards to 
obviate the loss of time involved in making the weekly trips to the crawls and 
to save the expense of employing watchmen they recurred to the method of 
cleaning on the vessels, to which they had been accustomed in the Mediterranean. 
The sponges as taken are placed on deck and thoroughly trod under the bare 
feet of the crew, so as to hasten death by crushing the soft tissues. They are 
then hung over the side to macerate, after which they are washed out on deck 
in tubs of seawater. The results of this method of cleaning were at first regarded 
as less satisfactory than of that practiced by the hookers. Occasionally more or 
less solid matter is retained through imperfect killing and maceration, and in 
addition the water in the tubs is sometimes allowed to become thick and gela- 
tinous with partially dissolved animal matter, which, adhering to the fiber, 
makes the sponge hard when dry and sticky when moist. When sponges so 
treated are thrown on the beach, sand and dust adhere to the surface, injuring 
the color and making pure goods look as if “loaded.’’ When properly per- 
formed, however, the results are good. Less sand is picked up by the sponges 
than when they are rolled about in the crawls, and as the animal matter is more 
quickly removed there is less injury to the fiber of the sponge than if the macera- 
tion be more prolonged. The sponges are also lighter in color and cleaner in 
appearance, while the soluble animal matter left in the sponge by the washing 
in tubs is appreciated by the buyers as adding to the weight. 
THE SPONGE TRADE. 
Buying.—The first sponges produced in Florida were sold to one or two 
merchants at Key West or exchanged for goods at a fixed price of 10 cents a 
pound, but as the demand increased competition for the product grew also an 
the method of selling at auction developed. 
At Key West, which held an absolute monopoly of the trade until about 
1891, a wharf is set apart as a sponge market, the buyers each paying for its use 
a fee proportional to the amount of their purchases. Here the spongers bring 
their catch and spread them, sorted according to kinds, in piles arranged to 
show them to best advantage, the sponges being wet to swell them to. their 
largest proportions. At appointed times the buyers assemble, and, proceeding 
from pile to pile, bid for each separately, basing their offers upon the number 
of bunches and the size and quality of the sponges. Each buyer writes his bid 
upon a slip of paper and hands it to the person appointed for the purpose, who 
when all bids are in reads them off, the highest taking the lot, though the owner 
may elect not to sell at the price offered. Intending buyers usually examine the 
