58 HIDDEN BEAUTIES OF NATURE 



these curious sponges from the deep ; the most 

 primitive, and that which was used by a friend, 

 for many years in the neighbourhood of Northern 

 Borneo and the Philippine Islands, is as follows : 

 When the waters were perfectly quiet, my friend 

 and his man would take their boat and a supply 

 of exceedingly fine line and a few small fish-hooks 

 with a lead attached. One would row very slowly, 

 while the other would let down the line with the 

 hook. This would drag along until an obstacle 

 was reached, then a gentle pull generally ended in 

 the capture of the euplectella. Its home is among 

 the mud and slimy matter at the bottom of the 

 ocean, hence its first appearance, coated as it is 

 with its sarcode, which forms the body proper 

 of the animal, is a most unattractive one. 



Most creatures look better with their skeletons 

 covered. Even man does. Not so with the ' Venus's 

 flower basket/ Its skeleton is its lovely part. If 

 one could imagine such a thing as dirty blanc- 

 mange or starch, into which the beautiful skeleton 

 was dipped and drawn out again, a pretty good 

 illustration of the living creature would be pictured. 



The fleshy substance, in which are all the lovely 

 harpoons, tridents, spears, etc., known as spicules, 

 must be washed away and the 'glass sponge' 

 bleached. It is then fit to take its place in our 

 cabinets of natural history specimens, and will 

 rank second to none in interesting features and 

 loveliness. 



