American Fisheries Socvety. 233 
of four inches and probably the total catch of sponges of that 
size is not far from 309,000 per year. In addition to this direct 
financial loss to the spongers there is also the loss of the breeding 
potentiality of so many individuals removed from the beds be- 
fore reaching full reproductive activity. 
Even should the laws be strictly enforced, however, and this 
waste be eliminated, it is not possible for the natural beds to 
sustain the demand made upon them. It is true that the sponge 
can never be commercially exterminated owing to the physical 
conditions under which it exists. The almost perennial turbidity 
of the water on many of the grounds makes it impossible to 
sponge with methods now in use except at most infrequent inter- 
vals, and during the periods of enforced rest the grounds re- 
cuperate and the sponges multiply. This, however, does not 
satisfy the conditions of the case, as it simply perpetuates the 
supply by restricting it. What is needed is an actual permanent 
increase in production to keep pace with a growing demand and 
in a measure to stimulate it. 
To those who have studied the matter, it is evident that this 
condition can be met only by some method of artificial culture 
analogous in general to the methods which have in many places 
re-established and maintained the supply of oysters. 
The question of sponge culture is not a new one. A number 
of theoretical considerations have been offered and several at- 
tempts at a practical solution have been made. It has been pro- 
posed to multiply and improve the supply of sponges by grow- 
ing them from cuttings and from the egg and by grafting supe- 
rior varieties upon those less desirable commercially. It does 
not appear that there is much of value in the last suggestion, 
which is based upon an imperfect analogy between sponges and 
the higher plants. If cut surfaces of two closely related varie- 
ties of sponges be brought into apposition they speedily fuse and 
heal. In the ease of plants, each member to the graft exerts 
more or less influence upon the resulting plant unit, which may 
perpetuate a particular hardiness or habit of the stock, for in- 
stance, with a special fruit quality derived from the scion or 
bud. In sponges, however, each part of the graft will continue 
to grow, very much as if it had remained independent. In other 
words, nothing can be done by grafting which cannot be done 
