gQg NATURAL HISTORY. 



whole number in the world. Some of these ancient forms were very large 

 — twenty and thirty feet long, a size which is only approximated by the 

 huso sturgeon of to-day, which sometimes weighs three thousand pounds, 

 and measures twenty to twenty-five feet from the tip of the snout to the 



end of the tail. 



There are about twenty different kinds of sturgeons in the world, seven 

 occurring in the waters of the United States. Their bodies are protected 

 by five rows of large bony scales or plates, and their mouths, on the under 

 side of the head, are toothless. Still, though they lack teeth, these fishes 

 are carnivorous. They have the power of moving or protruding the jaws 

 to some distance, while the size of the gape renders it easy to swallow a 

 large fish entire. The other general features of the external appearance 

 can be gathered from our plates. The peculiarities of the anatomy need 

 not be alluded to. 



There exists as much difference in regard to the esteem in which the 

 flesh of the sturgeon is held as was noted in the case of the lampreys. In 

 some places their reddish-colored flesh is highly esteemed as food, while in 

 others it is regarded as of no account. The sturgeons are migratory iishes, 

 ascending the rivers to lay their eggs, and at such times they are taken 

 in large quantities. It is, however, in Europe and western Asia that these 

 fishes acquire their greatest importance, and on the rivers flowing into the 

 Black and Caspian seas the various kinds of sturgeon (sterlet, •huso, 

 osseter, and bielaga) are extensively fished. Before the ice leaves in the 

 spring the fishermen drive a row of stakes across the river, thus forming 

 a sort of fence, or weir, the object of which is to lead the sturgeon to a 

 b pot ' or < trap,' which can be lifted up and the contents readily taken. 

 This sturgeon-weir is V-shaped, the apex of the V being turned up stream, 

 and right at the point is placed the trap. The sturgeon, on leaving the 

 sea in the early spring, to lay their eggs in the rivers, come to these weirs, 

 and, led by the converging sides, soon make their way to the trap, where 

 the fisherman is warned of their presence by the bobbing of certain floats. 

 All hands are now called, and by means of large ropes the trap — a huge 

 lattice ca^e — is raised to the surface, and the fish killed. 



It is not only for the flesh that the sturgeon is fished ; it also furnishes 

 isinglass and caviare. The isinglass, which is used as a thickening for 

 soups and a basis for jellies, is merely the swimming-bladder of the stur- 

 geon split open and dried. Caviare is celebrated. Some esteem it highly, 

 while others think it one of the most nauseous substances ever taken into 

 the human mouth. The taste for it has to be acquired, and besides there 

 is a great difference between the various qualities, owing to differences in 

 the modes of preparation and the care taken with it. To prepare it, the 



