ox SPOXGES. 
309 
It will be noticed that the fine and also the coarse quali- 
ties of sponge had attained^ at the beginning of 1861, a price 
unprecedented ; and this was followed by a great and sudden 
collapse. 
The following curious table * shows not only the countries 
to which the sponges are sent, but the proportionate quantity 
of each of the three quahties sold. It is made out on. the 
supposition that the entire ‘’‘"crop^^ for 1861 was divided 
into thu’ty-six parts, and thus distributed : — 
Amount of Crop 
Countries. 
Fine. 
Common. 
Coarse. 
sent to each 
Country. 
Great Britain . . . 
7/12 
2/12 
4/12 
... 13/36 
France 
3i/12 
8/12 
4/12 
.... 15p6 
Austria 
1/12 
... H/12 
3 -'12 
... 51/36 
Constantinople . . . 
i/12 
... 1/12 ... 
1/12 
2/36 
It will be seen from this table that the two principal 
markets for sponge are England and France. The former is 
the great purchaser of the finest quality, the latter of the 
second quality. The refuse of the fine, the common, and the 
coarse sponges is sent to Constantinople. 
The following figures, taken from official returns, show the 
total quantity and declared official value of Turkey sponge 
/ported into the 
ars.f 
United Kingdom in 
fom’ consecutive 
1855 
329,985 1b. 
£140,164 
1856 
... 313,287 „ 
172,308 
1857 
318,676 „ 
164,650 
1858 
287,681 „ 
157,751 
The Bahama Sponge Fisliei'y . — A very inferior description 
of sponge is procured about the Bahama banks and the 
coast of Florida. The sponges are torn from the rocks by 
means of a strong two-pronged fork, fixed to a long pole. 
They are buried in sand for a week or ten days, to get rid of 
the black animal matter ; they are then placed in enclosures 
of about twelve feet square, formed of stakes driven into the 
mud along the shore, and are there soaked and washed. When 
thus cleaned they are dried, pressed, and made up in bales 
of about 300 lb. each. From 1,000 to 1,500 of such bales are 
annually exported. The best sells for aloout one shilling the 
pound, and the second quality at ninepence.J 
by himself from ten cases of -finest Turkey sponge. When well beaten, and 
perfectly free from sand, 28 of these pieces weighed only one pound ; so that 
in this instance fourteen guineas were given for a pound of sponge ! 
* Mr. Consul Campbell’s Report on the Trade of Rhodes, for 1861 — 
published 1862, p. 380. 
t “ Technologist,” vol. i. p. 20. 
J We are indebted for this information to an article in the “ Techno- 
logist,” by the Editor, vol. i. 
Y 2 
