232 Thirty-Third Annual Meeting 
island of Cyprus for instance being in 1898 but thirty-five per 
cent of the product in 1899. Italy, Tunis, Samos, Crete and 
Cyprus have all taken measures to prohibit the use of diving 
apparatus, and it is thought that before long, if they have not 
already done so, Turkey and Egypt will follow the example of 
their neighbors. 
On the western side of the Atlantic we have had no oppor- 
tunity to judge of the effects of diving apparatus. Florida and, 
it is the impression of the writer, the Bahamas also, have antici- 
pated its introduction by enacting prohibitory laws. In Florida, 
Cuba and the Bahamas practically but one method of sponging 
is employed, the sponges being detached from the bottom by 
means of three-tined hooks on poles whose lengths are graduated 
to the depth of the water. In using these in deep water two men 
are necessary, one examining the bottom through a water glass, 
a glass bottomed bucket, and detaching the sponges when found 
and the other sculling the boat. In shallow water but one man 
is employed in a boat. It might be assumed that this somewhat 
primitive method would not prove especially destructive but the 
sponges are decreasing in abundance nevertheless. The chief 
complaint against the spongers of Florida, and of the Bahamas 
and Cuba as well, is that they catch an undue quantity of small 
and relatively valueless individuals. An act of legislature of 
Florida, approved May 30, 1901, provides that “whoever gathers 
sponges less than four inches in diameter, or whoever catches, 
sells, or buys, or offers for sale, sponges of less diameter than the 
aforesaid, shall be punished for each offense by a fine not ex- 
ceeding five hundred dollars,” etc. This law, however, is a dead 
letter and at every sponge sale sponges of less than the legal 
diameter are to be seen in the cargoes. 
The buyers would prefer not to buy these small sponges, but 
the rivalry to purchase is so keen that they take them to secure 
the more desirable sizes sold in the same lots. The loss arising 
from this abuse will be appreciated when it is stated that the 
experiments of the Bureau of Fisheries have shown that in two 
years a sponge may grow from a diameter of three inches to one 
of six inches, increasing eight fold in weight and at least twenty- 
five fold in value. One dealer in a single season bought between 
sixty and eighty thousand sponges of the approximate diameter 
