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SPONGE-FISHERIES. 



bag, which is attached to a hoop suspended round 

 their necks ; in this they place the sponges. In 

 a good locality a diver may bring up fifty okes 

 of sponges in a day. A very large sponge may 

 weigh two okes. The weight is calculated from 

 the sponges when they are dried. A sponge 

 is dried in the sun, after being cleaned in sea- 

 water. Fresh water rots it and turns it black. 

 The slimy or animal matter is stamped out by 

 the diver's feet. When dried the sponges are 

 strung in circles. They are sold at twenty- 

 five drachmas an oke. The chief markets for 

 them are Smyrna, Rhodes, and Napoli. 



The sponge-fisheries were probably conducted 

 among the ancient Greeks as they are now. 

 Hence, information being obtainable with facility, 

 we find a full account of the sponge in the 

 writings of Aristotle. He appears to have been 

 deeply interested in its history, on account of 

 the link it seemed to present between the animal 

 and vegetable natures. Therefore the question, 

 whether sponges possessed sensation, is discussed 

 by him more than once, and left undecided. 

 The statements for and against their capacity 

 of feeling are, however, fairly put forward. The 

 same question is debated among naturalists at 



