STURGEON. 171 



hundredweights of caviar shipped from Odessa in a single year ; but this is far beneath the 

 produce of the Caspian, which has in some years reached fifteen thousand hundredweights. 

 When of good quality, caviar is dry and of a brown colour ; it is commonly eaten with oil 

 and lemon juice. A cheaper and less prized kind is obtained from the roe of the Grey 

 Mullet, and from some species of Carp, which are common in and near the Black Sea." — 

 {English Cyclop. Arts and Science Div. ii. p. 691.) According to M. Littre, the name caviare 

 is derived from the Turkish chouiar; what that means I do not know. The word to me, 

 when I see the substance on the breakfast table, always suggests caution, and I associate it, 

 wrongly I know, but feelingly, with the Latin word cave ! 



The membrane of the air-bladder of the Sturgeon supplies isinglass, a substance known 

 to the ancient Greeks and Romans under the name of ichthyocolla, "fish-glue." Russia 

 supplies most of the isinglass of commerce. The thick air-bladder ("sounds") is washed 

 in cold water, and exposed for a short time to the air, in order to stiffen. "The outer 

 skin is then taken off and rejected, and the remainder cut out, and loosely twisted into rolls, 

 according to the intended size of the pieces, which are called staples, and are known in 

 commerce by the names of long and short staple, and of these the first is the best. These 

 are dried in the air. The best sort of isinglass is used for the table and in confectionary; 

 it is also largely employed in refining wine and beer."' — {Engl. Cycl. iv. p. 998.) 



I have never tasted a Sturgeon, and should not know how to cook it. Yarrell says it 

 is generally stewed with rich gravy, and the flavour is considered to be like that of veal. 

 Being a cartilaginous fish, the flesh is doubtless very nutritious. 



The Sturgeon grows to a great size. One of the largest British specimens on record 

 is mentioned by Pennant; it was caught in the Esk, and weighed four hundred and sixty 

 pounds. In the aquarium at Southport, one of the best, if not the best aquarium in the 

 kingdom, specimens of Sturgeons are often to be seen swimming about in the great tanks. 

 In a letter from Mr. Jackson, the Curator, kindly written to me in October, 1878, I learn 

 that there were then two Sturgeons living at the aquarium. "One was caught last summer; 

 the other, a very fine specimen, seven feet long, was caught three years last August ; it 

 feeds freely on lug-worms, and is in fine condition. The Sturgeons are always kept by us 

 in salt water, which prevents fish in general from being attacked by parasitic epizoa, which 

 is not the case in fresh water." Pennant's fish has lately been thrown quite into the shade, 

 as will be seen from the following extract from the Leeds Mercury of February ist., 1879: — 

 " The largest Sturgeon ever delivered at the port was brought into Grimsby on Wednesday 

 morning by the smack 'The Kitty,' (S. Shelton, master), Mr. Smethurst, Jun., owner. The 

 Sturgeon was four feet eleven inches in circumference, elev^en feet nine inches in length, and 

 weighed forty-four stones and a half. It was sold to Mr. A. Clifton, fish merchant." 



The mouth of the Sturgeon, which is in the form of a sucker, is situated on the under 

 side of the head, not far from the feelers, or cirri, which, being well supplied with nerves, 

 are able to point out to this fish the food with which it meets as it pokes about -with its 

 pointed snout. • 



"When caught in the Thames, within the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor," says Yarrell, 

 "the Sturgeon is considered a royal fish; the term being intended to imply that it ought 

 to be sent to the king, and it is said that this fish was exclusively reserved for the table 

 of Henry the First of England." 



The fish thought by Parnell to be a distinct species, to which he gave the name of 

 Acipenser latirostris, is by Dr. Gtinther referred to a variety of the Common Sturgeon, A. 

 sturio. It appears, however, that the American species, A. viaculosns, has been taken from 

 the Firth of Tay. This is the A. thouipsoni of Richardson, in the third edition of Yarrell' s 

 British Eishes, ii., 456, (see Giinther's Catalogue, viii., p. 339, note). The Acipenser sturio is 

 thus described: — "Snout pointed, produced, it being equal to, or but little shorter than, the 



