The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-07-21
m AD ESiEZR/z4H

an expectation Of II, 6i2 pounds OF do.
nestle sponges, valued at 1872 1893,
mostly of grass sponges, for which
there is very little demand in this
country. It 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
purposes. etc. When received by the
buyers the sponges are still far re-
moved from q condition in which they
can be placed on the general market,
II is necessary TO clean them thorough
IT, so that no foreign substances re-
main in them. and to trim OF the
rough edges to give n symmetrical APP
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 as
| 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 thor.
oughly soaked They are then run
through nordinary clothes wrlnger
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 Bcrupulous
business rivals The bleaching IL done
AT the large wholesale houses or by
the iohbers in the trade, and as lime
and acids are used. this process weak
ems the fiber and shortens the useful
ness OF the sponge \ perfectly harm
loss 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 night!
dews completes the work, For trans
rortation the sponges are baled II
burlap each kind by itself. the bales
representing net weight OF sponge
OF from is to so pounds. For com
pressing them, sponge presses, very
like those used for cotton, are EN-
plnyed.
notwithstanding all these trans
formations. the usual sponge OF dali,
use will give us a very fair idea o
the structure Of the original living AMI
mai In general. the lower ortiice
may be taken 10 be the oscular o
; cloacal openings. through which tn
b waste particles are the ova pass oui
though there is In some species bu
one of these openings The inhalan
, pores. which take the place of mouths
are much smaller, and through ther
T il introduced the water, carrying Wit
= il both air and the organic particle
r for the support of life. Communici
, ton between these exterior opening
J. Is established in the interior OF IN
u mass by a system of ciliated passage
i or canals connected with minute chan
u hers This fibrous mass is supporte
= by species of skeleton or calcareou
5 or silicious spicules, all sponges bein
divided by scientists into two order
s Calcispongiae ami Silicispongae, a
g cordlng to the nature of these skel
:, tons.
n Though the scientific investigate
o Of these animals has been carried yer
h far by careful investigators, there al
t stu some important matters to be ell
n cidated, as may be inferred from
.. passage In the latest edition OF IN
e Encyclopedia britannica"
1t 1t is becoming increasingly apparel
d that the term mesoderm cannot be
y piled with propriety TO the skeiet
genous parenchyma OF sponges, al
ID that they can no more be characte
Y. lied as 'Mcsodermalia than can u
i. Alcyonarians.
h. ARTHUR HEWITT.
!