THE TRUE FISHES. 



roe, or mass of eggs, is taken from the female sturgeon, soaked in vini 

 for a time, and then this is poured off, salt is stirred in, and the whole dried 

 either in the sun or over a fire. The different kinds of sturgeon prod 

 caviare of different qualities, and to suit some palates, the eggs are alio* 

 to begin to decompose before the preparation is begun. The caviare fn 

 the sterlet is the most highly esteemed, and all from that species prodi 

 in Russia is sent to the imperial tables. The amount annually produi 

 from all the species of sturgeon is enormous, the amount which has bi 

 exported from the Caspian fisheries having been estimated at four hundi 

 thousand pounds in a single year. 



Among the near relatives of the true sturgeons, may be mentioned the 

 shovel-nosed sturgeons, and the spoon-bills or paddle-bills of the Mississippi 

 basin. The first of these has the front of the head long and spade-like, 

 while the second has it produced into a broad, flat paddle which may 

 equal a third the total length of the fish. It is a most peculiar organ, and 

 its use is to stir up the mud at the bottom, so that the contained animals 

 may be more easily obtained. A spoon-bill occurring in China reaches 

 length of eighteen feet; but our native form barely reaches a third of 

 that size. 



The gar-pikes form another group highly interesting to the naturalist, 

 which to-day is confined 

 to the American conti- 

 nent. There are but three 

 or four species, and these 

 have the whole body cov- fig. 295.— Gar-pike . <>)■ 



ered with a compact ar- 

 mor of hard, bony scales. These fishes occur all through the United - 

 from Lake Champlain to Texas; they reach a length of about five : 

 but have but a very limited use as food. The Indians used to catch thei 

 for a most peculiar purpose. They extracted the teeth, and. accon 

 Charlevoix, a French traveler of a hundred and fifty years ago, they pre- 

 tended that these "are a sovereign remedy against tin- toothache, an< 

 by pricking the part most affected with one of these teeth, the pail 

 ishes that instant." 



Another form, still more like the true fishes, which occurs w 

 ern streams, must be mentioned at least by name, or rather by 

 names. It is 'the bow-fin. mud-fish, dog-fish, brindle or grindl 

 fisherman; sometimes it is personified and given the more compl< 

 of ; John A. Grindle.' It has no value as food. 



