The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-02-04
titles of them are eaten by LARGER aIi,.

titles OF them are eaten by larger ans-
mails.
Sponges are common in nearly all
parts of the world, and they differ
greatly in size and quality, but few
species being useful to man. Some
species are nearly round, others are al
ways cup-shaped, some tep-shaped, and
some branched. A fresh-water sponge
is frequently found in our streams,
growing upon sticks and stones. 1t is
OF bright green, and when seen under
the water in a flood of sunlight it is
very pretty.
The spicules of sponges grow in a
variety of elegant shapes, but they are
visible only with microscope. They
are composed of lime or flint, and are
generally sharp-pointed They are i'm
bedded in the flesh as well as in the
horny tibers, thus serving to protect the
helpless creatures from being devoured
by fish and other animals. In our fine
sponges, the skeleton is almost desti-
tute of spicules. while in some others
the flesh is supported wholly by spic-
ules, giving them so loose a texture that
they are of no value for domestic pur-
! poses.
Fine sponges are used by physicians
in surgical operations, and are some.
times very expensive. Should you at
any time take fancy to dainty little
sponge in the druggists window, and
step in, thinking to buy it, you will
probably be surprised at the price asked
for 1T. Our finest sponges come from
the Mediterranean Sea and the Red
Sea. They are obtained by divers, who
search for them under rocks and cliffs,
and who remove them carefully with
knife, that they may not be injured.
The Turks, who carry on the trade.
have between four and FIVE thousand
men employed in collecting sponges
The value of the sponges annually col
lected is estimated at ninety thousand
dollars. Coarse varieties are found in
the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahama
Islands. They are scraped off the rocks
with forked instruments, and conse-
quently they are often torn.
This demand for sponges has in
creased so much during the last few
years that there is cause to fear the sup
ply will be exhausted, unless some way
can be found to cultivate them by artifi-
cial means. With this view, attempts
have recently been made to raise
sponges in the Adriatic Sea by taking
cuttings from full-grown ones, and
fastening them upon stones on the bot
tom of the ocean until they attach them
selves. These experiments have been
successful, but the operation is q deli
cate one, requiring great care not to
bruise the soft flesh. 1t is necessary to
keep the sponge under sea water during
the process.
Some of the glass sponges are ex-
ceedingly beautiful. The delicate
'Venus's flower-basket" grows in the
deep sea near the Philippine Islands.
1t looks like spun glass woven into a
beautiful pattern, and is, so exquisite
that we can scarcely believe that it is
the skeleton of sponge. This sponge
is composed of bands of spicules run
ming lengthwise from end to end, with
cross bands at right angles. The cor
ners are filled with pale-brown, corky-
looking substance, reducing the spaces
to little tube-like holes, and rising into
spirally arranged ridges between them.
The ridges, instead of having a contin-
uous CLASSY skeleton, have their soft
ouooedhCo oupPolIeu ny mululIuue Vi
delicate six-rayed spicules interspersed
with what, under the microscope, look
like little stars and rosettes. The
whole sponge is covered with fine hairs,
and the mouth is closed by a network
of a jelly-like substance supported by
sheaves of fine needles. The glass-rope
sponge roots itself in the mud of twisted
fibers.
The boring sponge spreads itself over
the shells of oysters and mussels, boring
them through and through, and dissolv-
ing the she'll 1t even bores into solid
marble, and will, in time, utterly de-
stroy it.
Flints are exceedingly hard sub
stances-so hard that when we wish to
be emphatic. we sometimes say that
thing is as bard as flint Yet all the
flints in the world are supposed to have
been formed from soft sponges BY
examining small pieces of flint under a
microscope the texture of the sponge,
in fossil condition, is often clearly
seen, and the spicules peculiar to
sponges are recognized. -Harper's
Young People.