26 
Laboratory  Notes. 
I  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    January,  1895. 
Florida  produces  nearly  double  the  amount  of  sponges  that  are 
imported  from  all  other  countries;  that  is,  in  value,  not  quantity,  and 
the  demand  for  good  Florida  sponges  is  considerable  greater  than 
the  supply.  Consequently,  the  prices  must  advance  from  year  to 
year.  The  prices  have  more  than  doubled,  within  the  last  twenty 
years,  for  Florida  sponges. 
The  fine,  soft  species  of  sponges,  such  as  surgeon's,  toilet,  nur- 
sery, bath,  etc.,  are  found  in  great  variety  in  the  Mediterranean,  and 
are  fished  principally  by  divers,  sometimes  at  great  depth.  After 
being  brought  to  the  land  they  are  buried  in  the  sand  and  allowed 
to  decompose,  after  which  they  are  well  washed  and  beaten  with  a 
small  stick,  and  then  packed  in  bags  and  sent  direct  to  London,  and 
again  thoroughly  cleaned  and  packed  in  cases  according  to  size  and 
quality.  The  large  London  dealers  have  almost  complete  control  of 
the  sponges  found  in  the  Mediterranean.  There  are  a  great  many 
varieties  found  there,  principally  the  fine  surgeon's,  toilet,  bathing, 
potter's,  fine  thin  flat,  (called  elephant's  ears  by  the  native  fisher- 
men), fine  cups,  Zimocca  toilet,  Zimocca  potter's,  etc.  Some  of  the 
finest  cup  sponges  are  sold  at  as  high  as  $100  per  dozen.  The 
Mandruka  bath  sponges  are  also  very  expensive  and  very  rare. 
Some  of  the  cheaper  species  are  also  found  in  the  same  waters,  but 
none  like  those  found  in  Florida  or  Cuban  waters. 
LABORATORY  NOTES. 
By  Lyman  F.  Kebt_er. 
PURE  DELAWARE  HONEY. 
It  is  considered  by  some  that  a  standard  for  pure  honey  is  not 
hard  to  fix,  while  others  consider  the  task  somewhat  more  difficult. 
Theodore  Weigle1  in  his  report,  at  the  tenth  annual  meeting  of  the 
Independent  Association  of  Bavarian  Representatives  of  Applied 
Chemistry,  stated  that  there  had  come  to  the  public  notice  an  arti- 
ficial honey  which  so  closely  approximated  the  genuine  product, 
both  physically  and  chemically,  that  it  was  impossible  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  real  article.  Nor  is  this  an  isolated  case,  but  is  amply 
supplemented  by  every  tabulated  examination  of  honey,  conspicu- 
ous among  which  are  the  honeys  reported  in  Bulletin  Agr.  Dept., 
1  Deutsche  Zuckerindustrie  16,  1043. 
