ABUSE OF THE SCAPHANDER IN THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 517 
order to reach bottom the more rapidly, the diver grasps in both hands a flat 
block of white marble weighing from 14 to 16 kilograms, holds it in front of him, 
and jumps from the side of the vessel head downward into the spray, while a 
rope, passing through a hole in the stone and fastened also by means of a cord 
to the right wrist of the diver, follows him into the sea. Scarce touching the 
ground with his toes, the diver places the stone under his left arm, tears off the 
large sponges, and places these ina net fastened to his neck and waist. The 
crew of a sailing vessel with naked divers consists of 5 to 7 divers and 2 rowers. 
The only danger threatening the naked diver is the attack of a shark, but he 
does not consider this eventuality, as it is a very rare one. 
The second mode of gathering sponges is by means of a five-pronged hook 
of iron, weighing from 2 to 2% kilograms and fixed to a handle 9 meters long. 
Each bark of the A?gean Sea carries 4 to 6 hooks, 3 of which are bound together 
and braced end to end by 2 smaller handles of 2 meters each, making a com- 
bined length of 27 meters. For still greater depths, up to 45 meters, the sponge 
fishermen of the A/gean Sea use a five-pronged hook 1 meter long and weighing 
12 to 15 kilograms, which is let down ona rope. ‘The handles of the hooks of the 
Italian fishermen and the fishermen of Crappano in Dalmatia reach a length of 18 
meters, while those of the Italians were, some sixteen years ago, only from 4 to 
5 meters, according to the ‘‘Condizioni della Marina Mercantile Italiana,” 1892. 
The crews of hooking vessels number from 2 to 5 men, one manipulating the 
hooks, the others rowing and assisting. Two men per bark are found only 
among the crews of Crappano, the crews in Italy, Tunis, Greece, and Turkey 
numbering 3 to5 men. The sponge fishermen of Crappano, in order to be able 
to see the bottom of the sea more easily, pour oil on the surface of the water to 
render it smoother. A more practical and cheaper method is that of the fisher- 
men of the A’gean Sea, who use for this purpose a special apparatus consisting of 
a tin cylinder with a glass bottom. The smoothing of the surface by a slight 
pressure of the glass bottom of the cylinder allows the eye to examine the bottom 
of the sea better than does the use of oil. 
The third method of gathering sponges is by means of the dragnet, which is 
fastened to a rectangular frame 4 to 7 meters long and 0.35 to 0.45 meter high, 
and is dragged by means of three ropes joined to a heavier rope. The part of 
the frame lying on the ground is of iron and weighs 20 to 30 kilograms; the three 
other parts are of wood. ‘The net has a depth of about 3% metersand its meshes 
are 8 centimeters square. A sailing vessel equipped with a net is of 4 to 40 tons, 
and has a crew of 3 to 6 men, though the larger sailing vessels from Torre del 
Greco have more. The dragnet takes sponges at a depth of 120 meters, although 
not frequently. As it needs, for one thing, a flat sea bottom, and for another 
wind for the sails and room for maneuvering, it is evident that this work takes 
