Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1891-01-30
RAKED FROM THE DEEP.
HOW SPoNGES ARE GATHERED,
PREPARED AND MARKETED.
It's Really an Animals Skeleton One
Bathes With-How 1t Grows and
is Reproduced-Spong Fisheries.

Bathes With-How 1t Grows and
is OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Fisheries.
When sponge is taken out of water it is
a soft mass of animal tissue surrounding
frame work of horny, glass-like or limy
fiber. 1t is the horny kind that is the
sponge of commerce. The sort used for
bathing is the horny -fbered skeleton of
most interesting marine creature, from
which all the soft parts have been re-
moved, just as a human being might be
Invested of his flesh, leaving his bones
behind. So delicately made is this horny
structure that it is soft to the touch and
absorbs water readily. There are thou
sands of varieties of sponges, but not
more than half dozen are useful.
A sponge, as it is found growing on
the bottom of the sea, is composed, apart
from the skeleton that forms its frame
work, of multitude of cells. Each of
these cells is occupied by an animal or
ganism, but there is dispute as to whether
the organisms are distinct individuals or
merely parts of one individual, which is
the sponge. This contention is based
upon the same arguments involved in
the controversy as to whether each bud
on a tree has or has not an individuality
distinct from that of the parent stem.
But at all events, it may be as we'll to
consider the sponge as single animal,
growing by the substance it obtains from
the water.
If you will look at the sponge you use
for your bath you will see that it is
covered all over with small holes, with
here and there toward the top some large
ones. Now try to realize that IN life
this creature, the skeleton Of which you
wash yourself with, was composed as to
its feshy parts of small cells. The
whole structure as it was in life might
be compared to city intersected by
canals. Ever so many little canals gave
entrance to the sea water, which was ex-
PEELED through the big orifces. In this
way it was managed that no large foreign
objects could be sucked in, while the
sewers, as they might be called, were
wide enough to drive anything out by.
From all the cells that line the channels
in the sponge are projected little hair
like appendages, which keep up con-
tinual motion, the object of which is to
create a current of water in through the
mutitudinous small canals and out by
the big pipes. So actively is this opera
tion kept up that, looking at sponge in
shallow water, where it is growing, you
will often see boiling and bubbling
going on as if there was spring in
ebullition. The object of the animal in
passing this current through its own sub
stance is to bring within reach the animal
and vegetable matters upon which it
feeds. With the continuous current of
water that passes through the canals sus-
tenance is carried sufficient for the
creature to thrive on.
The commercial sponges are found
altogether in warm regions, the chief
sources of supply being the Mediterra-
mean, the Red Sea, the Bahamas and
Florida. 1t is from the Mediterranean
that the finest grades are obtained, but
to these the best American sponges are
not very inferior. 1t is largely popular
prejudice that causes the best European
sponges to sell for $50 pound, while
the super-excellent American varieties
bring less than tenth of that price.
Altogether there are six varieties of
sponges known to commerce. The
grades into which they are divided are
determined not merely by kind, but also
by size, shape and structure. A sponge of
the most exquisite quality may be SO
misshapen as to be worthless and un-
marketable. On the nature of the bot
tom upon which a sponge grows its
grade commercially may largely depend.
OF most interest to people in this
country are the sponge grounds of Flor
ida, which cover the reefs along the
south end of that State, extending up
the west shore as far as St. Marks and
Apalachee Bay. These grounds have a
total area of $500 square miles, and
sponge fishing is carried on all over
them by a large fleet of vessels, which
chiefly at Key West.
A fishing craft goes out early in
the week, returning at the end of six
days perhaps to the nearest shore and
depositing its catch in an inclosure built |
out into the ocean, to which the sea has |
easy access. The tides, rising and fall
ing alternately, leave the sponges to die
and wash away their soft parts, so that
at the end of the week, when the vessel |
comes back with a fresh load, all of the |
previous catch has been pretty we'll |
skeletonized. Depositing the fresh
caught sponges in the "stockade," the
fishermen take the old ones and go off |
on another cruise for more, hanging the
decayed animals all over the rigging, in
order that they may become finally dried
and dessicated. In this way, bringing
in one batch and taking out another, a |
schooner usually manages to get cargo |
within month or two and then sets sail |
for Key West. There the sponges are |
taken ashore and stacked in piles on the
beach according to variety. They are
sold to traders, who examine the piles
md give bids on them in writing. After |
they are purchased in this way the
sponges are packed tightly III bales by
hydraulic pressure and shipped to New