148 LAKES AND RIVERS. 



fish in the British Museum which is 9 feet long and 

 5 feet 8 inches in girth. But the Sturgeons found in 

 the great rivers Volga, Don, and Danube are said 

 sometimes to exceed 1,000 Ib. in weight ; and the 

 Russian rivers contain other species of the genus, 

 the flesh of which is more delicate and recherche 



STURGEON. 



than that of the common Sturgeon. The Sturgeon 

 feeds much on small fish, and even when at sea on 

 herrings, mackerel and small codfish. The great 

 delicacy in Russia, the celebrated Caviare, is made of 

 the roe or eggs of different species of Sturgeon. The 

 general colour of the common Sturgeon is yellow, 

 with a white belly. 



The last family of the cartilaginous fishes is that 

 of the Lampreys (Petromyzida]. The river Lamprey 

 (P. fluvialilis) is about 15 inches long; it has a 

 round head. Its body is round for about two-thirds 

 of its length, and then it is compressed or flattened 

 to the end of the tail. The Lamprey was formerly 

 much esteemed, and a surfeit of its flesh caused, 

 history tells us, the death of Henry I. 



The Sea Lamprey (P. marinus) goes up rivers to 

 spawn, and remains from early spring till August, and 

 it is mostly when in the river that it is taken. Its 

 suctorial mouth is said to be used to draw away stones 

 in order to have a hole or pit in which to lay its- 



