CAKTILAGINOUS FISHES. 527 



with a white helly. It is rendered remarkable hy the number and form 

 of the osseous plates or scales, which cover the body like so many 

 bucklers. Upon the back and belly are no less than twelve to fifteen 

 of these rough bony plates, relieved by projections, which are pointed in 

 the young, and soften down with age. On each side is a row of thirty 

 to thirty-five of these triangular plates, separated from each other by 

 considerable intervals. The head is broad at the base, gradually con- 

 tracting towards the point, and terminating in a conical muzzle. The 

 mouth is large and considerably behind the extremity of the muzzle, 

 and its jaws, in place of teeth, are furnished with cartilages. Between 

 the mouth and the muzzle are four slender and very elastic barbs, or 

 wattles, like so many little worms. It is pretended that these wattles 

 attract small fishes to the jaws of the animal, while it conceals itself 

 among the roots of aquatic plants. 



In the sea the sturgeon feeds on herrings, mackerel, cod-fish, and 

 other fishes of moderate size. In the rivers it attacks the salmon 

 which ascend them about the same time. Mingling with them, how- 

 ever, it seems a giant. It deposits its eggs in great quantity, which 

 are gathered and made into caviare. Its flesh is delicate, and in 

 countries where they are caught in quantities it is dried and preserved. 

 The rivers which enter the Black and Caspian seas contain, besides 

 the common sturgeon, many other species of the same genus, the 

 flesh of which is even more delicate and recherche than the common 

 sturgeon. Among the ancients this fish was held in unusual esteem. 

 In Borne, in the time of the emperors, we read of sturgeons borne in 

 triumph to the sound of instruments, and laid upon tables fastidiously 

 covered and decorated with flowers. 



The Great Sturgeon, which sometimes exceeds a thousand pounds, 

 is only found in the rivers which flow into the Caspian and Black seas. 

 The Yolga, the Don, and the Danube produce the largest species. 



We are indebted to the Kussian naturalist Pallas for the informa- 

 tion we possess respecting the mode of taking the sturgeon in the 

 Yolga and other Asiatic rivers. Stakes are placed across the river, 

 leaving just sufficient space between each pile to permit . the animal 

 to pass. Towards the centre this dike forms an angle opposed to 

 the current, and, consequently, opposed to the fish which ascend the 

 river towards the summit of this angle. At this point there is an 

 opening which leads into a kind of enclosure, consisting of fillets 



