The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1870-01-15
a SpOnEe-What il Ia. and Where
II Genes From.


/ what's sponge made offs" said George gasp.
Ing, shutting and winkine under his Croton bath
No one near could tell him; and the maid sug.
gested that he needn't be askin' such foolish
| questions but just keep still and be washed,
| and so the matter ended.
| Now listen, George, and l will tell YOU what q
| sponge is
The very sponge which washes your face wcs
brought up from the bottom Of the ocean, and
was part OF a living animal.
| For long time sponges were supposed to be
plants, but later observations have decided them
| TO be animals, and they are placed in the class
PROTOCOL, the class most resembling plants.
When first found in the water their appear
ance is very different from this which you now
see.
This is the skeleton only, the part correspond
ing to our bones. When this WAS r complete
living thing, deep down under water, it WAS COW
cred all over the outside and filed in every one
OF these little holes with soft substance some
thing like the white OF an egg, and this was like
cur flesh: it was fastened tightly TO a rock, and
its color was q blush black on the upper side,
aad dirty white below. 1t was formerly sup
posed 10 be plant, because it was always fast in
one place. but Tor other it is decidedly an
animal. All through this mass is a regular cir
culation, like our food and blood. 1t has been
seen TO absorb nutritious mstter-that is, to eat,
srices or holes, these communicate with each
other throughout. Into the largest of these,
called pores, the sea water is constantly enter
ing; and out OF the small ones, called vents, it
is regularly spouted out; and il doubtless finds
in the sea water minvte animals which serve it
for food, and increases its bulk.
And this strange animal produces others like
itself; l will tel you how. From the soft part
little globule is seen to float Off, and after NOV
f-,.r ~ b,.;o IL 81
as il looking for place it fastens itself to some
rock. Next gradually begins to be seen the more
solid skeleton, the soft part increases, and SO it
grows; not very slowly, either, for the divers
lind II at the end of three years large enough TO
bring away.
To get these sponges from the bottom of the
ocean furnishes occupation for great number of
people. One thousand men are busy in the
Grecian Archipelago alone; and thousands be-
sides, with many hundred boats, are engaged in
the Gulf Of Macuri, on the Barbary coast, and
elsewhere; SO that in many villages there, from
May to September-the best diving time--only
old men, women and children are to be found.
The finest kind is brought from the .Eyean.
Sea- at daylight there, in the summer time,
when the weather is pleasant-for it requires
smooth water-the boats, each with six or eight
men and one pair OF oars, will leave the shore
and proceed to where the water is eight or ten or
even tnlrty Ieel Oeep; Ios those found Ii swallow
water are very inferior.
Here they stop, and the divers prepare to de-
scend. Each one puts hoop around his neck,
and to this fastens bag in which the sponges
are put as they are gathered. In very deep
water the diver uses rope with stone to it.
He sinks the stone to the spot he intends to reach
and this holds the rope steady, which he uses to
assist himself in coming to the surface again
After being busy thus till noon, they return
to some of those pleasant little hooks which
abound on the shores of the Archipelago, to pre-
pare what they have gathered fit for sale.
The first thing is to press out the soft part of
the animal, and then to bleach out the remainder
in the sun; so they beat them and trample them
until there is no more life left
The skeleton part Is then washed and spread
in the sun until it is quite clean, and grows to
be this dull syellow color; then i, is packed in
bags, aud sent to market for sale-sent to all
parts Of Asia, Europe and America.-Ph1enolog.
zeal Journal.