CHONDROPTERYGII. (J27 



autumn, and are then transported into lakes near that river, 

 for which purpose the fish are frequently drawn after they 

 are caught considerable distances in the river, by means of a 

 rope passed through the mouth and gill. At the beginning 

 of winter they are taken out of the preserves by nets, and are 

 then sent in a frozen state into the different provinces. The 

 cossacks of the Ja'ick are obliged by law to return into the 

 water all the sturgeon which fall into their nets during the 

 month of May, because these fish fetch a much higher price 

 during winter, when they can be transported in a frozen 

 state. 



The sturgeon is much esteemed for food, and is said to eat 

 like veal. The male fish is the best. This fish seems how- 

 ever to have been more highly prized in former times than 

 at present. It was in great request among the luxurious 

 Romans and at Athens. In China, at the present day, stur- 

 geons are considered the exclusive property of the emperor, 

 and in France and England are treated as royal fish ; and 

 we have still a provision on the statute book, of the period of 

 Edward I., that the king's escheater shall make diligent 

 inquiry whether any sturgeon have been taken and withdrawn 

 from the crown. The most profitable part of this fish to the 

 fishermen is the roe, which is salted and preserved, and ex- 

 ported almost all over Europe, under the name of caviar. 



The Hansen, or great sturgeon, acipenser huso, of Linn, and 

 the text, is not so extensively spread in the different tempe- 

 rate seas of Asia, as the common species ; it is found only in 

 the Caspian Sea and the Euxine, and is observed to visit 

 only the Volga, the Danube, and the other rivers which run 

 into those seas ; but it is much more numerous in these 

 waters than the common species. Husen is the German name 

 of this fish. In Russia it is called Behiga, and various other 

 names, according to the size of the individual, which varies 



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