SPONGES. 



43 



by sea-monsters, against which the knife which they carry 

 is but a poor defence. They distinguish with clearness 

 distant objects through the crystal element, and as soon 

 as they perceive voracious fishes, they shake rapidly the 

 foot of the rope, and in an instant are drawn up to their 

 boat. I learned these particulars from a diver of the 

 country, who complained sadly of his hard lot and of his 

 small profits." * 



The uses of Sponge have been appreciated from very 

 ancient times. We learn from Aristotle that it was used 

 to line the brazen armour which his countrymen wore in 

 battle. " The kind called Achilleum, fine in texture, and 

 very thick and strong, they put under helmets and greaves, 

 viz., between the armour and the skin, whereby blows are 

 rendered less stunning." The same kind was employed, 

 as with us, for cleansing purposes. Thus Homer says : — 



"Then with a sponge he dresfc 

 His face all over, necke and hands, and all his hairie breast." t 



And in the Odyssey, the seats and tables after the slaughter 

 of the suitors are cleansed by " well-soaked sponges." 'I 

 Martial also informs us, § that the tables after meals were 

 carefully scoured with wet sponges ; for the Greeks and 

 Romans knew not the comfort of table-cloths, which the 

 Nineveh marbles shew to have been familiar to the Asiatics. 

 Another use was that of conveying liquids to the mouths 

 of persons incapable, from exhaustion or other causes, of 

 drinking : and the Christian remembers with interest that 

 the last office rendered to the Lord Jesus in his humilia- 

 tion, was the moistening of his lips by means of a sponge. |j 



* Lettres sur la Grece, 96. \ Iliad, lib. xviii. 



| Odyssey, lib xxii. § Apophor. n. cxliv. 



|| Matt, xxvii. 43. 



