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Rocky coasts and coral reefs are the chief "liabitat of the 

 sponges ; a few kinds prefer to settle on some other animal. 

 If a sponge be cut into pieces, each piece is still capable of 

 living, and developing into a perfect individual; a capacity of 

 which a very practical use is made by cultivators of the bath- 

 sponge. These sponges are found in all parts of the Mediter- 

 ranean, and also in the Gulf of Naples. To prepare them for 

 the market it is only necessary to wash and squeeze them,. 

 by which process the sponge-cells , that is the really vital 

 part, are destroyed. The finest and most costly bath-sponges are 

 those from the Levant, and are met with chiefly on the coasts 

 of Asia Minor. In 1862, the best were sold wholesale by weight 

 at prices varying from 100 to 150 francs per pound upwards; other 

 kinds, like the so called Zimocca sponge, are worth only the tenth 

 part of that sum ; these are generally found on the coast of 

 Greece. The third kind, the horse-sponge, is seen in the market 

 in very large pieces , often measuring a foot and a half. They 

 are chiefly found on the African coast. Sponges from Italy and 

 Dalmatia are also brought to market. Professor Oscar Schmidt 

 says : " These sponges are found from the Quarnero to the Ionian 

 Islands, at a depth of about 20 to 120 feet. The bath-sponge 

 seems particularly to favour the coasts and cliffs, but not the 

 enclosed harbours. Its favorite spot is a steep and rocky coast, 

 and it is seldom met with at a distance from the shore. Sponge- 

 fishing is the exclusive occupation of the male inhabitants of the 

 small island of Crapano. In spring the fishermen go out in 

 pairs in strong open boats to fish, which is a very troublesome 

 business. One man propels the boat slowly forward, while the 

 other stretches his whole body over the bows looking for 

 sponges at the bottom of the sea. If a light breeze ruffles the 

 surface, oil is poured upon it to smooth it. The fisher is ar- 

 med with a long elastic spear , and with this, when he has 

 got as nearly above it as possible, he loosens the sponge. The 

 sponges are kneaded and squeezed out while quite fresh, and 

 after two or three days the operation is repeated , the cells 

 having then begun to decay. But instead of bringing these 

 clean sponges to market, the Crapanese and other fishermen 

 fill them with fine sand to increase the weight about 90 per 

 cent. Buyers are naturally up to this trick, and it is of no avail, 

 but the beating out of the sand wastes much time in the wa- 

 rehouses, and we all know that the first thing -to do with a 

 newly bought sponge is to continue the operation commenced 

 in the maritime towns ". 



