448 NATURAL HISTORY. 



Sub-class II. PISCES CHONDROPTERYGIL (Gr. Xuvdpof, carti- 

 lage ; TTTepvyiov, a fin.) 



Sub-order I. ELEUTHEROPOMI. (Gr. 'E^cvOepo^, free; Trw/m, a lid or 

 cover.) 



Family I. ... Acipenserida?. (Lat. Ac/pcnsa, a Sturgeon.) 



ACIPENSER. 



Sturio, the Sturgeon. 



preceding fi^h ; but the remainder breathe by means either cf 

 slits, as in the sharks, or holes, as in the lampreys. 



The STURGEONS are remarkable for the rows of bony plates 

 extending along the body. It is exceedingly common in the 

 northern parts of E uropc, where regular fisheries are organized 

 for its capture. Almost every part of it is used. Isinglass is 

 obtained by drying and shredding the air-bladder ; caviare is 

 made of the roe of the female, and the flesh is extensively pre- 

 served both by pickling and salting, besides the large quantities 

 that are consumed fresh. The flavour of its flesh is said not to 

 be unlike veal. 



It has occasionally been taken 011 our coasts, usually by 

 entangling itself in the nets, and although it then does some 

 injury to the nets by its violent struggles to release itself, it 

 is otherwise perfectly harmless. Yarrel mentions that a 

 sturgeon measuring eight feet six inches in length, and weigh- 

 ing two hundred and three pounds, was taken in a stake net 

 near Findhon in 1833. A specimen was once caught in the 

 Esk, weighing four hundred and sixty pounds. The female 



