THE STURGEON. 7$ 



Where found Propensity for leaping. 



at the bottom of the sea or rivers; but the ten- 

 drils above mentioned, which hang from his 

 snout over his mouth, must themselves be very 

 inconvenient for this purpose , and as he has no 

 jaws, he evidently lives by suction, and, during 

 his residence in the sea, marine insects are gene- 

 rally found in his stomach. From its quality of 

 floundering at the bottom of rivers, the sturgeon 

 has received its name (as Johnson observes) from 

 the Germans, the word stoeren signifying to wal- 

 low in the mud. 



Sturgeons are found both in the European and 

 American seas. At the approach of spring, they 

 leave the deep recesses of the sea, and enter the 

 rivers to spawn ; and from May to July the Ame- 

 rican rivers abound with them. tf Here," says 

 Catesby, " they are often observed to leap to 

 the height of several yards out of the water, 

 which they do in an erect position, falling back 

 again on their sides with such noise as to be 

 heard in the still evenings to a great distance. 

 They have often been known, at these times, to 

 fall into the small boats or canoes of the Indians, 

 and sink them. On this account it is often dan- 

 gerous to pass the places that are much fre- 

 quented by them ; many instances have occurred 

 of people' losing their lives by this means. Some 

 of the Indians take advantage of this propensity 

 for leaping to catch them, by stationing them- 

 selves in tolerably large boats in the places where 

 they are seen, and receiving them as they fall." 



VOL. v. NO. 32. K 



