The Sponge Fishery of the Bahamas. 1 79 



is next soaked for 20 minutes in a tank of water, con- 

 taining 2° (hydrometer) of soda ash and heated to 150°. 

 It is then passed into a tank containing a hot solution 

 of very strong detergent soap, where it is soaked for 

 half an hour with constant and violent agitation. It then 

 returns to the first tub, where it is washed another hour 

 and cut more finely. The cleansing process is then com- 

 plete, and after the water has been pressed out by pass- 

 ing through rollers, it is carried by the elevator to the 

 " drying-room," two stories above, where a high degree of 

 temperature is maintained, and it is dried in large revolving 

 cylinders. It is then clean and without smell, but hard and 

 inelastic in character, and in that condition totally valueless 

 for the purpose of stuffing. 



It was at this point that the inventor's skill was 

 necessary. The pores of the sponge closed when the water 

 had evaporated, and no permanent elasticity could be 

 had unless these were held open permanently. Glycerin, 

 being a non-evaporative substance, was found to answer 

 the purpose. The remainder of the process is then as 

 follows : — The dry hard sponge is placed in a solution of 

 glycerin and water, in the proportion of about half and 

 half, and after passing through heavy rollers it is again 

 dried in the cylinders. The aqueous portion then evapo- 

 rates, and leaves the bits of sponge dry and sweet, and so 

 permeated with the glycerin that a permanent elasticity is 

 maintained. It is then at last taken to the packing-room, 

 highly compressed into bales of about 40 lbs. each, and is 

 ready for market. 



An enterprise was started in the United States in 1873, 

 for manufacturing the coarser sponges, sent as grass, glove, 

 and refuse, into a sort of felting to be laid under carpets. 

 Large quantities of these kinds were purchased in the 



