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Spontini (GASPARO an instrument called)

GASPARO an instrument called a vessels, carrying crews of from 5 to 15 men, are fitted out at Key West and Appalachicola for trips of from four to eight weeks on the sponge grounds. The crews are paired off into small rowboats, or "dingies," to catch the sponges. One man stands in the stern, sculling the boat, while the other kneels in the bottom amidships, with the upper half of his body leaning over the side, and scans the bottom of the sea. To aid the "water eye glass," which is a common water bucket whose wooden bottom has been replaced by one of glass, is used by setting it in the water and thrusting the face as far into it as convenient. When a sponge is sighted the boat is stopped, and the kneeling man uses a two-pronged hook, attached to a slender pole 30 or 40 feet in length, to secure it. Considerable dexterity is required of both men. To cure the sponges they are first spread about the vessel's deck in their natural upright position, so that they will die, and while decomposing allow the gelatinous matter to run off freely. When they have been several days in this position they are taken to the shore and thrown into the water in little pens, called "crawls," where the remaining substance is soaked and squeezed out.

There are several varieties of sponges caught in the Florida waters. There are first, sheep's wool; second, yellow sponges, and third, grass sponges, which are coarse in texture and not durable.

In average years the yield is over 400,- 000 lbs., valued at over $500,000.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION. See COMBUSTION.