Sponge spicules in swamp soils

Abo 14 lb I'r
BXCHJLNG-

Issued July 6,

United States Department of Agriculture,

BUREAU OP SOILS— CIRCULAR No. 67.

MILTON WHITNEY, Chief.

1 . S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

BUREAU OF SOILS,
Washington, D. C., March 26, 1912.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith the manuscript of an article on Sponge
Spicules in Swamp Soils, by R. O. E. Davis, Scientist in Physical Laboratory Inves-
tigations, Bureau of Soils, and to request that this be published as Circular No. 67,
of this bureau.

Very respectfully, _ . MILTON WHITNEY,

Chief of Bureau.
Hon. JAMES WILSON, f "or >HE

Secretary of Agriculture. { UNIVERSITY

or

SPONGE SPICULES IN SWAMP SOILS.

By R. O. E. DAVIS, Scientist in Physical Laboratory Investigations.

Recently a number of inquiries have been received by this depart-
ment concerning the cause of itching sensations produced in men
and work animals employed upon certain soils; especially in Georgia
and Florida. The trouble is experienced in working the soils of
certain areas, which happen in each case to be land that has been
drained. During dry weather the workmen suffer from a terrible
itching of the feet, and the feet of mules used in plowing become
sore and inflamed. The trouble is not so bad if the soil is worked in
a fairly moist condition.

One of the places in Georgia from which a sample of soil was
obtained is described as an old cypress pond of 8 to 10 acres, which
has been drained for about 30 years. The soil is fertile and from
1 to 8 feet in depth. The same trouble is met on a farm in Lee
County, Ga., and in submitting a sample of the soil one of the field
workers of the Office of Experiment Stations writes:

The soil can be cultivated only when wet, as the mules and men can not stay on
the land when it is dry. Shoes are ruined in one day and mules' feet are made raw
in the same length of time. Most of the drained land in the neighborhood is affected
with the same trouble and this fact deters people from undertaking work in drainage.

Various suggestions have been made as to the cause of this peculiar
action of the soil, such as the presence of the hook-worm, pollen,
alkali, and sulphuric acid formed from the oxidation of sulphides in

38765"-— Cir. 67—12

2 SPONGE SPICULES IX SWAMP SOILS.

the soil. A thorough examination of the soil, however, made it
appear improbable that any of these was the true explanation. A
physical action suggested as causing the burning sensation was that
the dry, powdered soil, consisting of a mixture of organic matter
and the finest of mineral clay particles, produced a drying effect on
the skin. The moisture was absorbed so rapidly that an apparent
burning resulted. This explanation, however, was not entirely sat-
isfactory, and a careful microscopic examination of the soil was
made.

The microscopic examination 1 revealed in the soil the presence of
immense numbers of sharply pointed crescent-shaped bodies of
siliceous material. These have been identified 2 as siliceous residues
(spicules) of certain species of sponge. They are somewhat crescent
shaped, about 0.2 mm. long and 0.02 mm. in width and are readily

FIG. 1. — Sponge spicules magnified about 200 times.

distinguished from the siliceous remains of certain elongated diatoms
by the lack of the elaborate sculpturing generally present in the
latter. These are the remains of fresh-water sponges and may vary
in size and shape. The most common in the Georgia soil is the
Mayenia millsii, which is crescent shaped, with tiny spines project-
ing from the body of the spicules. The presence of these spicules
in large quantities in the soil causes the irritation described. The
character of the spicules is shown in figure 1.

Mayenia millsii is described by Edward Potts 3 as follows :

Skeleton spicules nearly straight, cylindrical, slender, rather abruptly pointed,
entirely microspined. Spines few, low, conical. Measurement of skeleton spicules
0.0107 by 0.0005 inch. Collected from Sherwood Lake, near De Land, Fla.

All the forms of fresh-water sponges as yet discovered are siliceous. The skeleton
or framework (corresponding to the elastic fiber of which commercial sponges are com-
posed), upon which slimelike sponge flesh, known as "sarcode," is supported, and

i Mr. W. J. McCaughy made the microscopic examination which located the trouble.
* The identification was made by Dr. Albert Mann, Bureau of Plant Industry, who was also kind enough
to make examinations of several samples of soil.
» Synopsis of forms of fresh-water sponges, Philadelphia Acad. of Nat. Scl, 89, 225 (1887).

SPONGE SPICULES IN SWAMP SOILS.

through whose interstices the currents meander, is composed of siliceous spicules,
slightly bound together by an almost invisible quantity of firm sarcode, or, parhaps,
of colloidal «ilica. In the different species these skeleton epicules vary in size, in
the shape of their terminations, and in their more or less spinous character.

The soils of the region investigated carried as high as 25 percent
of these spicules. Of course, their presence in such quantities is
unusual and presents a problem to the soil technologist. Importance
attaches to its solution, because any land that has remained as a
swamp for a long time may be infested with these spicules. Their
presence has been frequently noted in regular mineralogical examina-
tions of soils and evidently they are quite widely distributed.

Examinations were made of nearly 200 samples of soil from dif-
ferent parts of the United States taken from beds of lakes and from
swamps. Spicules were found in nearly all, but generally in very
small quantities. Those in soils from other localities than Georgia
varied somewhat in character. They were crescent shaped but did
not have the small spines on their surfaces. The quantity in the
soils of the Klamath project of Oregon was large. Diatoms were
also present. The muck soil of Florida showed the spicules in the
greatest abundance, with the exception of the Georgia soils already
mentioned, but the spines were missing from them also. In none of
40 soils collected from the cypress swamps and bayous of Louisiana
and other Gulf States were the spicules found in any quantity.

It was desired to know whether these sponge spicules were present
in the lower layers of soil and, if so, in what amounts. Prof. W. A.
Worsham, of the University of Georgia, secured samples from the
spot near Montezuma, Ga., showing 25 per cent of spicules. These
samples were carefully taken at different depths and sent to this
bureau. Dr. Mann made an examination of these samples to deter-
mine the relative number of spicules at the different depths. This
was done by preparing representative samples on slides and making
counts of the number of spicules in each sample. The result
follows :

Quantity of sponge spicules in the soil at different depths.

Sam-
ple
No.

Depth.

No. of spicules
on slide.

Approxi-
mate per-
centage
of spicules
in soil.

1

Surface ,.

58

25

2

Surface, cultivated

63

25

3

6 inches

58

25

4

10 inches (side of ditch)

Negligible.

5

12 inchos. .

14 5

|

6

2 feet (side of ditch)

None.

7

2 feet

Negligible.

8

3 feet (side of ditch)

None.

9

3 feet

Negligible.

10

5 feet (bottom of ditch) . .

None.

*

4 SPONGE SPICULES IN SWAMP SOILS.

From these results it would seem that the spicules are practically
confined to the first 6 inches of surface soil. A few appear at 12
inches, although they are absent from the 10-inch sample, but this
irregularity may be due to some disturbance of the soil strata or to
the fact that the 10-inch sample was taken from a ditch.

The treatment of soil in which the spicules are present hi quantity
must be regarded as a physical problem, as the spicules are siliceous
in character and there is no practical method for then* removal by
chemical means. The presence of the spicules in the soil up to 4 or 5
per cent does not seem to have any bad effect, but with larger quan-
tities the disagreeable results ensue. The microscopic spicules are
like finely divided glass and cut into the flesh of man or beast, and
upon the quantity of the material depends the severity of the result.

It has been observed that in parts of the affected district where
sand has been washed over the land the unpleasant results are not
observed, and it appears that the best way to solve the problem is
to mix some other soil with the infested soil. The most convenient
and practical way to do this is by mixing some of the subsoil with
the surface soil, and since in the worst infested areas the presence
of the spicules is confined to the first 6 inches, this can be done with
comparative ease by deep plowing.

It is very likely that no bodies of fresh water exist for a very long
period without a growth of fresh-water sponge and the consequent
deposition of the sponge spicules. Their presence in unusual quanti-
ties presents a subject of practical interest. It is suggested, then,
that in areas where drainage is contemplated the soil from the lake
bed or swamp be examined microscopically for these remains. If
present in considerable quantities the depth of the deposit and the
possibility of admixing extraneous material to ameliorate the con-
dition should be determined.

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