THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



I6 5 



per pound ; but when it reaches this country, it is mostly 

 found to weigh much heavier than it really is, owing to 1 

 the dealers having, before. shipping it, soaked it and filled 

 it with sand to increase its weight. It is therefore usual',- 

 in purchasing, to bargain to be allowed to beat the sponge 

 for a certain time before weighing, in order to get rid of 

 the sand. About 215,000 large, coarse sponges, worth 

 about ,17,000, are sent to Great Britain from the, 

 Bahamas and other West India islands. These are torn 

 up from rocks by means of a fork at the end of a long 

 pole; and in order to cleanse them from the gelatinous 

 matter which surrounds them, they are buried in sand 

 and afterwards soaked in water. 



' The limits of this manual compel me here to close. I 

 have endeavoured to trace the works of the Creator as 

 exhibited in the animal life in various forms. ^ I need not 

 say that all that has been written here forms the merest 

 outline, the most bald index, to the glorious works of the 

 Creator. I would therefore urge the reader to follow up 

 the study by consulting more extensive and elaborate 

 works, and, above all, by original investigation and 

 examination. And in thus pursuing this subject, I ven- 

 ture to hope that the systematic arrangement of this little 

 book will prove of real service to him. 



