PORIFERA. 417 



Greece, an important fishery and traffic are carried 

 on for this article. " At the Cyclades for instance, 

 sponge -diving forms the chief employment of the 

 population. The sea is at all times exceedingly 

 clear, and the experienced divers are able to distin- 

 guish from the surface the points to which the 

 Sponge is attached helow, when an unpractised eye 

 could but dimly discover the bottom. Each boat is 

 furnished with a large stone attached to a rope, and 

 this the diver seizes in his hand on plunging head 

 foremost from the stern. He does this in order to 

 increase the velocity of his descent, thus economis- 

 ing his stock of breath ; as- well as to facilitate his 

 ascent when exhausted at the bottom, being then 

 quickly hauled up by his companions. Few men 

 can remain longer than two minutes below ; and as 

 the process of detaching the Sponge is very tedious, 

 three and sometimes four divers descend successive- 

 ly to secure a particularly fine specimen."* This 

 fishery appears to have been carried on in the same 

 localities in very ancient times. Tournefort informs 

 us that of so much importance is it considered, that 

 no youth is allowed to marry until he has given proof 

 of his proficiency in the art of diving. 



Here we close. Rapid as has been our course 

 through this magnificent and grand array of living 

 beings, and few and slight as have been the gleanings 

 which we have gathered, we cannot rise from the study, 



* Penny Mag. 1834, p. 27. 



T 5 



