1 70 The Commercial Products of the Sea, 



from each other with any certainty, in the same manner as 

 the corresponding sub-species in the Mediterranean and 

 Caribbean Seas were connected, through the coarser, and 

 not by the aid of the finer varieties. It is evident, how- 

 ever, that besides the general differences previously noted, 

 the cup-shape form is not found in the American sub- 

 species, whereas it is the prevalent form of the Mediter- 

 ranean sub-species. A cursory examination of a large 

 collection will, however, satisfy any one that the shape does 

 not necessarily correllate with a finer or a coarser skeleton, 

 but probably with a more or less extended base of attach- 

 ment and local peculiarities, such as currents, and the kind 

 of bottom, etc., which have not been investigated in this 

 connection. 



The American Sponge Fisheries, — The coarser de- 

 scriptions of sponge entering into commerce are procured 

 about the Bahamas banks and the coast of Florida. 



Sponge fishing is said to have become a very profitable 

 business in the neighbourhood of Key West, Florida. The 

 article is mostly procured there by the natives of the 

 Bahamas, who best understand the business of sponges ; 

 and its principal grounds are Rock Island, a scope of 

 land 30 miles long by seven miles broad, lying off 

 Taylor county and 60 miles north-west from Cedar 

 Keys ; thence from the mouth of the Withlacoochee, past 

 Martin's Reef to near Tampa Bay, a distance of perhaps 

 300 miles. 



The number of small schooners engaged is between 

 75 and 100, with an average of from 5 to 15 men to 

 each, and an average of three dingies to each vessel. 

 The vessels built for the purpose are half oval-shape, and 

 as flat as is consistent with due regard to sailing qualities. 

 Dingy, or dincey, is the small boat used to gather the 



