614 
V arieiies. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharnv 
t      Dec,  1879. 
Gulf  of  Mexico — the  only  points  where  the  plant  was  cultivated  on  a  large  scale^ 
and  where  its  fructification  appeared  to  be  insured,  It  remained  for  later  experi- 
menters to  add  to  the  interest  attaching  to  this  plant,  while  at  the  same  time,  in  some- 
degree,  augmenting  the  resources  of  the  colonies. 
At  this  time  the  impression  made  by  certain  recent  researches  on  fecundation  in 
plants  was  still  fresh,  and  the  questions  of  hybridation  and  crossing  were  closely 
studied. 
It  has  ever  since  been  believed  that  the  fecundation  of  the  vanilla  in  Mexico  and 
the  neighboring  countries,  where  that  plant  fructifies  normally,  was  brought  about 
by  the  agency  of  certain  insects  which  hitherto  do  not  appear  ever  to  have  been* 
observed  performing  this  function.  The  hypothesis  is  almost  equivalent  to  a  certainty, 
now  that  we  know  the  habits  of  the  Orchidex,  especially  as  regards  reproduction. — 
Mr.  y-J.  Poisson,  in  Popular  Science  Monthly  for  September. 
The  artificial  propagation  of  sponges  is  said  to  have  received  an  official  recog- 
nition on  the  part  of  the  Austrian  government,  under  whose  auspices  the  industry 
may  possibly  succeed.  The  direct  cause  of  this  action  of  the  authorities  is  reported 
to  have  been  the  successful  demonstration  by  Prof.  Oscar  Schmidt,  of  the  University 
of  Gratz  (a  well-known  authority  on  sponges),  from  the  results  of  practical  experi- 
ments carried  on  duiing  several  years,  that  the  artificial  growing  of  sponges  was 
quite  easy  to  accomplish,  and,  if  properly  conducted,  could  be  made  a  source  of 
considerable  profit. 
The  procedure  consists  simply  in  cutting  the  live  sponges  into  small  pieces,, 
attaching  the  same  to  a  wooden  frame-work,  and  sinking  it  to  the  proper  depth  in 
the  sea,  in  locations  favorable  to  their  natural  growth.  In  three  years,  Prof.  Schmidt 
reports,  such  pieces  will  have  attained  a  marketable  size.  He  estimates  that  the  total 
cost  of  raising  4,oco  sponges  (including  interest  on  capital  expended  for  three  years) 
will  be  $45,  and  the  income  from  their  sale  $80,  leaving  a  net  profit  of  $35.  As 
the  growing  sponges,  after  their  first  immersion,  will  require  no  attention,  it  will  be- 
readily  perceived  that  the  quantity  thus  propagated  could  be  indefinitely  increased. 
Prof.  Schmidt's  observations  are  simply  confirmatory  of  those  of  the  naturalists 
Brehm  and  Buccich,  who  years  ago  demonstrated  the  feasibility  of  artificial  sponge 
breeding,  and  suggested  it  as  a  new  and  profitable  industry,  and  one  which  in  time 
would  be  rendered  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  the  sponge  supply  of  the  Med- 
iterranean, in  view  of  the  rapid  and  improvident  exhaustion  of  the  sponge  fisheries, 
and  of  the  fact  that  the  fishermen  selected  the  very  season  for  their  active  operations 
in  which  the  sponges  would  increase  and  multiply  by  natural  means.  The  sugges- 
tion of  these  savants  that  the  fishing  season  should  be  confined  to  certain  months  of 
the  year,  and  that  the  artificial  cultivation  of  sponges  should  be  introduced  and 
encouraged,  met  with  similar  governmental  approval;  but  the  paternal  designs  of 
the  authorities  and  the  recommendations  of  the  savants  were  misunderstood,  and  the 
experimental  breeding  stations  were  destroyed  by  the  ignorant  fishermen;  and  until 
the  present  no  effort  to  revive  the  subject  has  been  made.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
present  effort  may  meet  with  better  success. 
This  subject,  we  may  finally  remark,  is  not  without  interest  for  our  own  country, 
as  a  large  stretch  of  the  Floridan  and  the  Gulf  Coast  is  suited  for  the  growth  of 
