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A HISTORY OF 



CHAPTER CXLVI. 



THE STURGEON, AND ITS VARIETIES. 



THE Sturgeon, with a form as terrible, and 

 a body as large, a's the shark, is yet as harm- 

 less as the fish we have been just describing; 

 incapable and unwilling to injure others, it 

 flies from the smallest fishes, and generally 

 falls a victim to its own timidity. 



The sturgeon in its general form resembles 

 a fresh-water pike. The nose is long ; the 

 mouth is situated beneath, being small, and 

 without jaw-bones or teeth. But though it 

 is so harmless and ill provided for war, the 

 body is formidable enough to appearance. 

 It is long, pentagonal, and covered with five 

 rows of large bony knobs, one row on the 

 back and two on each side, and a number of 

 fins to give it greater expedition. Of this fish 

 there are three kinds; the Common Sturgeon, 

 the Caviar Sturgeon, and the Huso or Isjn- 

 glass Fish. The first has eleven knobs or 

 scales on the back ; the second has fifteen ; 

 and the latter thirteen on the back, and forty- 

 three on the tail. These differences seem 

 slight to us who only consider the animal's 

 form ; but those who consider its uses find the 

 distinction of considerable importance. The 

 first is the sturgeon, the flesh of which is sent 

 pickled into a-11 parts of Europe. The se- 

 cond is the fish from the roe of which that 

 noted delicacy called Caviar is made; and 

 the third, besides supplying the caviar, fur- 

 nishes also the valuable commodity of isin- 

 glass. They all grow to a very great size ; 

 and some of them have been found above 

 eighteen feet long." 



There is not a country in Europe but what 

 this fish visits at different seasons; it annual- 

 ly ascends the largest rivers to spawn, and 

 propagates in an amazing number. The in- 

 habitants along the banks of the Po, the Da- 

 nube, and the Wolga, make great profit year- 

 ly of its incursions up the stream, and have 



Isinglass is prepared from various other fishes, but 

 principally from the White Dolphin, or Belluga of North ! 



their nets prepared for its reception. The 

 sturgeon also is brought daily to the markets 

 of Rome and Venice, and they are known to 

 abound in the Mediterranean sea. Yet those 

 fish that keep entirely either in salt or fresh 

 water are but comparatively small. When 

 the sturgeon enjoys the vicissitude of fresh 

 and salt water, it is then that it grows to an 

 enormous size, so as almost to rival even the 

 whale in magnitude. 



Nor are we without frequent visits from 

 this much esteemed fish in England. It is 

 often accidentally taken in our rivers in sal- 

 mon-nets, and particularly in those parts that 

 are not far remote from the sea. The largest 

 we have heard of, caught in Great Britain, 

 was a fish taken in the Eske, where they are 

 most frequently found, which weighed four 

 hundred and sixty pounds. An enormous 

 size to those who have only seen our fresh- 

 water fishes ! 



North America also furnishes the sturgeon; 

 their rivers in May, June, and July, supply 

 them in very great abundance. At that time 

 they are seen sporting in the water, and leap- 

 ing from its surface several yards into the air. 

 When they fall again on their sides, the con- 

 cussion is so violent, that the noise is heard 

 in still weather at some miles distance. 



But of all places where this atumal is to be 

 found, it appears no where in such numbers 

 as in the lakes of Frischehaff and CurischafF, 

 near the city of Pillau. In the rivers also 

 that empty themselves into the Euxine sea, 

 this fish is caught in great numbers, particu- 

 larly at the mouth of the river Don. In all 

 these places the fishermen regularly expect 



f O * I 



their arrival from the sea, and have their nets 



and salt ready prepared for their reception. 



As the sturgeon is a harmless fish, and no 



way voracious, it is never caught by a bait 



America. This well-known substance is made from the 

 sound, or air-bladder. 



