The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1886-12-07
AN ODD ANIMAL
Curious Facts About spongcs That Are
Not Generally known.

Curious Facts About spongcs That Are
Not Generally knowB.
Sponges, like other everyday things.
we take for granted. and the idea that
we are washing our faces with dead
animals is, when first realized. rather
startling. When alive. the fibrous net
work we are so accustomed TO il
clothed within and without by a thin,
gelatinOus substance very like the
white of an egg. This lines all the
passages and covers the outside, but it
drains of when the sponge is removed
from the wafer. I'm this substance the
| life of the sponge resides. and manifeSts
itself not only by the slow but regular
growth of the mass, but by a curious
circulation of find which is constantly
taking place within it.
When sponge j. examined in its
living state beneath the water a current
is always seen TO issue from IFS vents.
while a constant flow of wafer takes
place inward through the pores. and
these currents evidently have for their
object the conveyance of the nutritive
matter i'm the water into the sponge
and also the carrying off of the parti-
cleS which are To be eNcreted. The
position of the pores and vents differs
very much i'm the different kinds of
spongeS. Sometimes all the pores are
ON one side and all the vents on the
other, and sometimes the vents are
placed on top of little cones which look
like the crater of a volcano.
The spOnges themselves grow i'm
different WAYS. Some are inhabitants
of the deep sea. and are supported
by ropes of long, twisted iibers
which sink i'm the mud of The sea
bottom. Other "anchOring spongeS'
are moored Ia the mud by
beard of long. delicate
spikes. An inferior kind of sponge
lives i'm fresh water. but the best ones
are obtained from the Grecian archi-
pclago and the Bahama islands. and are
usually found attached to some solid
object i'm deep water. They are beaten
and soaked i'm muriatic acid before be-
ing brought TO market.
There's been corner on Sponoes
for the past year, remarked an affable
drugstore clerk the other day. .'Some
of the New York dealers are controlling
the market, and we have TO pay twice
AZ much as we used TO. This one, for
instance" picking up a firm. golden
ball about three inches in diameter.
1--WE should get two dollars for now.
and two years ago it wouldn't have !
sold for more than half that sum. It's !!
what they call 'sheep-woor sponge. |
and comes from the Mediterranean. |
These little surgeon spOnges bring |
from $50 10 81, but of course they |
are very fine.
"A Florida sponge, now" aud he !
pointed contemptuOusly to tray of |
skeletons, ''sells for fif- |
teen cents an ounce, and a two-ounce
sponge is a pretty large one, can tell
YOU"
The demand for SpongeS i'm Chicago !
has increased enormously i'm the last
Iwo or three wears. Numbers of ppo-
pie who, i'm 1882. were content with
with the old-time American ..wash-rag''
now indulge in bath spongcs As large
Is the most rabid AnglO-maniac. On
he hypothesis that cleanliness j. next
d gOdliness, and godlineSS next To
culture, according 10 the doctrines Of
Slr. Matthew Arnold and his disciples.
hen the increasing demand for SpongeS
ought 10 satisfy the warming of the
most aspiring mortal. ChicdGJ NelO:.