although they still can be bought on a weight basis, as they have 

 been for many years. In the past, the problem of gurry in sponges 

 has been a serious one for the industry. A specification as to 

 cleanliness therefore is recommended to prevent this problem from 

 recurring, 



C. Weight additives , — When sponges were sold on the basis of 

 weight, gurry and dirt sometimes were left in the sponge intention- 

 ally. Weight additives also were worked into the sponge. A specif i— 

 cation for uncleanliness will deter any tendency for the industry to 

 slip back into these uneconomic practices, which work against its 

 welfare under competitive conditions. 



Although each seller of sponges who "loaded" them had his own 

 formula, in every case known, the weight additive could be washed 

 out with water. This fault therefore merely requires an extra 200 

 demerits to be added to Fault B if evidence of loading is found. 



Weight additives fall into two classes: water soluble and water 

 insoluble. The water-soluble type would be suspected if the sponge 

 lost a lot of weight on being washed but did not develop a foul odor 

 (due to gurry) when wet and kept in a closed container for 2U hours. 

 The water-insoluble type, usually needing the first type to make it 

 adhere to the sponge, would be fine sand, barytes, whiting, lith- 

 arge, or similar insoluble material, which easily can be detected by 

 an examination of the first wash water for insoluble fine powder. 

 Sale on the basis of size rather than weight, however, gives no in- 

 centive to load a sponge or to leave in more than 10 percent of gurry, 



D. Exterior sand, shell, coral, stone, etc , — Inspection of the 

 bottom or tne sponge usually will reveal most of the exterior dirt. 

 Complete removal of dirt is difficult and time consuming without de- 

 stroying some of the bottom webbing, which is one of the stronger 

 parts of the sponge. Very little if any such dirt should be tolerated, 

 however, in the present market, which is so keenly competitive. Syn- 

 thetic sponges never contain dirt, and Mediterranean sponges are al- 

 most as clean. Obviously, very few uses of sponges will tolerate harsh 

 particles. Even a small amount of dirt therefore justifies large de- 

 merits if the inspector finds that the dirt is easy to remove without 

 injuring the sponge. 



Several people in the trade have recommended that sponges be 

 clipped from their roots. If the root is left to grow a new sponge, 

 production is increased, and very little bottom dirt is collected! 

 but the new sponge tends to grow in a flatter shape, which results 

 in few forms, and the strong bottom webbing is lost. The advantages 

 of clipping the sponges from their roots appear to outweigh the dis- 

 advantages, however, if one realizes that the value of the spherical 

 form is questionable in view of the competition with the synthetic 

 sponge, 



E. Interior sand, shell, ° oral > stone, etc , — When dirt such as 

 sand and shell would be difficult to remove without injuring the sponge, 



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