SPONGE FISHING 3523 



In addition to sexual reproduction, there is also vegetative propagation. This 

 characteristic has been made use of for cultivating sponges by cuttings. 



SPONGE FISHING 



Sponges are found in depths ranging from two to one hundred fathoms, and 

 the methods of collecting depend both on depth and locality. Off Dalmatia the 

 primitive method of harpooning is still employed. Two men go out in a small 

 boat; one rows, the other leans over the edge holding a long fork. If the water 

 ripples, the rower throws in a half circle in front of him a few pebbles dipped in oil. 

 The Greeks employ a submarine spyglass, which simply consists of a pane of glass 

 let into the bottom of a tube or bucket. By this means they do away with the 

 effect of the surface ripples. In the Levant in depths of five to fifty fathoms divers 

 are employed, either naked or provided with a diving dress. In the former case, 

 the diver, with a bag round his neck, takes hold of an oblong white stone, with a 

 cord attached; he breathes vigorously for a few minutes, and plunges in head fore- 

 most, holding the stone in front of him. He can only remain at the bottom at the 

 utmost for three minutes, during which time he hastily snatches up the sponges, 

 puts them into the bag, pulls the cord, and is drawn up. After the first descent of 

 the season he comes up with his nose bleeding. If this does not take place it is 

 considered a bad sign, and the diver will not consider himself fit to continue the 

 work. Divers with dresses can remain for an hour in depths of from five to fifteen 

 fathoms, but only for a few minutes in from twenty to fifty fathoms. In depths 

 over fifty fathoms a dragnet is used, either from a vessel or hauled along from the 

 shore. The net is fixed to a frame six yards in length and one yard in height; this 

 is composed of camel hair, and has four-inch meshes. The sponges are taken 

 ashore, pressed, squeezed, and rinsed, till the dark skin and fleshy glutinous sub- 

 stance has been got rid of, or they are exposed for a short time, and placed in a 

 staked inclosure under water; in a few days the soft animal substance is trodden 

 out, and the specimens are strung up to dry. 



In a map of North America, the tongue-like peninsula of Florida will be seen 

 projecting between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The tongue extends 

 beneath the sea as a submarine plateau, on which coral reefs have formed, parallel 

 with the southern and western shores of the peninsula, but separated from the 

 mainland by shallow channels. From the point of the tongue extends a chain of 

 small islands, or " keys," formed from coral growth and its fragments. The plateau 

 forms a southeastern expansion, the Great Bahama Bank, which sinks along its 

 eastern margin by a stupendous declivity of over ten thousand feet to the great 

 depths. The reefs on the plateau form rich sponge beds, extending over an area of 

 several thousand square miles. Previous to 1840 the existence of these valua- 

 ble submarine beds was unknown. Now they afford a means of livelihood to 

 many thousands of men, and nearly a thousand vessels are employed in collecting 

 the crops. 



The origin of the sponge fisheries in the West-Indian region was due to an 

 accident. Previous to 1840 all the sponges of commerce came from the Meditcr- 



