The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-02-23
tiles of them arc eaten by larger

4 IlldiS.
Sponges are common in near,u ~
parts of the world, and thew d;s ~
greatly in size and quality. but u sas
species being useful to man I rev
species are nearly round, others ara oa =
ways cup-shaped, some top-shaned q. q,
some branched. A fresh-water s snos anu
is frequently found in our str pOnge
growing upon sticks and stones T. !:
OF bright green, and when seen pn = z
the water in a flood of sunlight + I
very pretty. 4 =
The sspicules of sponges grow IN .
variety of elegant shapes, but thew :. a.
visible only with a microscope TS W.
are composed of lime or flint. and ~
generally sharp pointed. They ara ~; are
Dedded In the flesh as well as in tba
horny fibers, thus serving to protect t tbe
helpless creatures from being deyonraJ
by flsh and other animals. In orr tra
sponges, the skeleton is almost dass;
tute OF spicules. while in some otbar.
the flesh is supported wholly by sn;o
ules, giving them so loose a texture tbat
they are of no value for domestic n, r~s
poses. pug
Fine sponges are used by phvsic;.ns
In surgical operations, and are som Some
times very expensive. Should Won Il
any time take a fancy to a dainty l;ttla s
sponge in the druggists window. And
step IN, thinking to buy il, Won viii
probably be surprised at the price asked
Tor it. 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 Ri.
lected is estimated at ninety Thousand
dollars. Coarse varieties are found in
the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahama
Islands. They are seraped 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 sun.
ply will besexhausted, unless some way
can be found to cultivate them by arti6-
cial means. With this view, attemuts
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 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
beautiful pattern, and is so exquisite
that we can scarcely believe that it Is
the skeleton of a 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 contin-
uous CLASSY skeleton, have their soft
substance supported by a multitude 81
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 q network
of "a jelly-like substance supported by
sheaves of fine needles. The glass-rope
sponge roots itself in the mud Of twisted
fbers.
The boring sponge spreads itself over
the shells of oysters and mussels, boring
them through and through, and dissoly-
ing the shell. 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 o
thing is as hard as flint. Yet all the
fiints in the world are supposed to have
been formed from soft sponges. BY
examining small pieces of flint under
the texture of the sponge,
in fossil condition, is often clearly
seen, and the spicules peculiar to
sponges are recognized. Harpers
Young People.