314 THE STURGEON. 



these is the common sturgeon, the flesh of which is 

 pickled and sent into many parts of the world. From 

 the second the roe is taken, which forms a delicate dish, 

 known by the name of caviar : and the third not only 

 supplies us with that ingredient, but with that useful 

 commodity from which it derives its name. There is 

 not a single country of Europe but what this fish is 

 known to visit at different tunes of the year ; but the 

 inhabitants along the banks of the Po, the Danube, 

 and the Wolga, are allowed to derive the greatest ad- 

 vantages from its fondness for change of scene, as they 

 axe always prepared with nets to intercept their pas- 

 sage, and then convert their bodies into the most pro- 

 fitable use. 



The largest of the size that was ever caught in Great 

 Britain, is allowed to have been taken in the river 

 Eske ; and, to those who have seen only* fresh-water 

 fishes, it must have appeared enormous, as it weighed 

 four hundred and sixty pounds. 



As the sturgeon is a harmless animal, and never vo- 

 racious or rapaciously inclined, there is little chance of 

 obtaining it by the assistance of a line : in fact, it ex- 

 ists upon sea-plants or insects, therefore the fishermen 

 only attempt to secure it by nets. They have two 

 methods of preparing the flesh of the sturgeon ; 

 the one, by drying it and hanging it up in the sun ; 

 and the other, by cutting it into pieces and plac- 

 ing it in barrels, and covering it with a pickle of salt 

 and sanmure. Isinglass is composed of the skin, en- 

 trails, and fins of the sturgeon, which are macerated 

 in warm water, and then boiled over a slow fire until 

 they have acquired the consistency of a paste, which 

 is first spread out into sheets like those of parchment, 

 and then formed into rolls. This valuable commodity 



