American Fisheries Society. 237 
Key was selected for further experiment. Instead of using 
naked copper wires, various types of insulation were tried, other 
metals, including lead and heavily galvanized iron, and various 
cordage materials were experimented with, moulded forms of 
terra cotta, plaster and cement were used instead of the rocks 
and stakes laid on the bottom, and better judgment was used in 
selecting localities for planting. It was found that places but 
a few hundred yards apart differed markedly in their adaptation 
to purposes of sponge culture as was shown at Sugar Loaf Key 
by the progress of cuttings planted on opposite sides of a small 
point of land. Currents of at least moderate strength are im- 
portant desiderata, supplying the sponges with the abundant” 
food supply essential for rapid growth. Another fact estab- 
lished was the advantage of raising the sponges above the bottom. 
Not only do they grow more rapidly, but they are superior in 
shape, and the proportion of survivals is far greater than when 
they are placed on the bottom. They are free to grow in all 
directions and assume a spheroidal shape, they are bathed on 
all sides in food-laden water, the stronger currents above the 
bottom carry more food within their reach and finally they are 
less liable to suffocation and overgrowth by silt and vegetation. 
It was also found that the cuttings were more or less injured 
in being threaded on the long insulated supporting wires and 
that when the pieces were merely bound against the wire they 
were sometimes so slow in growing around it as to jeopardize 
their attachment before the corrosion of the binding wire. ‘T'o 
obviate these difficulties, the expedient was adopted of shtting 
the cutting, placing the two legs of the sht astride of the sup- 
porting wire and binding the severed faces in close apposition 
by means of aluminum wires or rubber bands. The sht speedily 
heals and the cutting becomes organically intact around the wire. 
Aluminum wire was adopted for binding purposes because its 
salts in sea water are neither rapidly produced nor injurious to 
the sponge. The more or less expensive insulations composed of 
various patented compounds of rubber, ete., which have been 
found to possess superior properties for electrical purposes soon 
developed their worthlessness for sponge culture, the insulation 
being affected by the salt water and stripping from the wires. 
Underwriters insulation, so-called, a cheap covering of cotton 
