The Twin City star. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1910-19??, 1910-07-21

an expectation Of 71,642 pounds of do
nestle sponges, valued at $32,199.
mostly Of grass sponges, for which
there is very little demand in this
country. 1t Is probable that the prog
ress of science and the enormous in
crease In all kinds Of sanitary and an
tiseptic precautions will largely d.
minish the use Of sponges, as has been
already the case for hospitals, toilet
buyers the sponges are still far re-
moved from a condition in which they
can be placed on the general market
It is necessary to clean them thorough
ly, so that no foreign substances re-
main in them, and to trim Off the
rough edges to give symmetrical ap-
pearance. This work Is carried on In
the large warehouses which the buy
ers maintain at convenient places
along the coast Unfortunately, other
processes are also employed, such AZ
loading, to increase the weight, rock
salt, glucose, molasses, lead, gravel.
sand and stone being all used, accord
ing to the governments official report.
These substances are mixed with Wa
ter in water-tight bins and the sponges
immersed in them until they are shor-
oughly soaked. They are then run
through a nordinary clothes-wringer
or laid on an inclined rack and al
lowed to drain into the bins. The more
conscientious buyers are obliged to
resort to these measures in order to
compete with their less scrupulous
business rivals. The bleaching Is done
at the large wholesale houses or by
the jobbers in the trade, and as lime
and acids are used, this process weak.
ems the fiber and shortens the useful.
ness of the sponge. A perfectly harm
less method of bleaching employed by
the spongers gives white or golden
tone for specimens or presentation
sponges. This consists merely OF
washing them in soapy water, and.
after covering them with soap-suds.
hanging them on the masts Of the
boats or on poles on the shore. The
action of sunlight and Of the nightly
dews completes the work. For trans
portation the sponges are baled in
burlap, each kind by itself, the bales
representing a net weight of sponge
OF from Is to so pounds. For COM
pressing them, sponge presses. very
like those used for cotton, are en-
ployed.
Notwithstanding all these trans
| formations, the usual sponge OF daily
use will give us a very fair idea Of
the structure of the original living AMI
NAL. In general, the lower orifices
may be taken to be the oscular or
cloacal openings, through which the
waste particles are the ova pass out,
though there Is in some species but
! one OF these openings. The inhalant
, pores, which take the place Of mouths.
are much smaller, and through them
| ia introduced the water, carrying with
1t both air and the organic particles
for the support of life. Communities
ton between these exterior openings
is established in Che interior of the
mass by a system Of ciliated passages
or canals connected with minute cham,
bers. This fibrous mass Is supporter
| by a species OF skeleton or caicareous
or silicious spicules, all sponges being
divided by scientists into two orders.
Calcispongiae and Silicispongae, 40
cording to the nature of these skele
| tons.
! Though the scientific investigations
Of these animals has been carried very
far by careful investigators, there ard
still some important matters to be elu
cidated, as may be inferred from I
passage in the latest edition Of the
Encyclopedia Britannica" Z,
1t Is becoming increasingly apparent
that the term mesoderm cannot be ap
piled with propriety to the skeleto
genous parenchyma of sponges, and
that they can no more be character
ICED as 'Mesodermalia' than can the
Alcyonarians."
ARTHUR HEWITT.