A MONSTER FISH. 189 



Longitudinal rows of bony plates extending along its 

 body equip it in a famous suit of " harness;" and its 

 head is as well protected as that of a " mailed knight." 

 Like Hamlet's father, it is armed 



"At point exactly, cap-a-pie,"- 



from "head to foot;" and it is further covered through- 

 out its whole length by five series of strong, large, osseous 

 tubercles, rounded at the base, and terminated above by 

 a keen curved point in a reversed direction. Its nata- 

 tory bladder, which forms one of its claims to the epi- 

 cure's regard, is of large size, and communicates with the 

 esophagus through a considerable orifice. 



There are at least four different species of sturgeon 

 distinguished by zoologists ; three of which, the three 

 largest, frequent the Don, the Danube, and the other 

 rivers which flow into the Black and Caspian Seas. The 

 largest of these, occasionally found in the Po, will weigh 

 as much as three thousand pounds ; and no power under 

 that of a strong team of oxen can drag the monster from 

 the river when taken. The common sturgeon is found 

 in the Baltic and the streams of Northern Europe. It 

 lives indifferently in salt water and fresh water, lakes, 

 rivers, and seas. It may be caught in the Mediterranean 

 or the Red Sea ; and when spring returns to quicken the 

 glad earth, it finds its way up all the great European 

 rivers the Volga, Po, Garonne, Loire, Rhine, Oder, 

 Elbe, and even the secondary streams. Does not Au- 

 sonius describe the mighty fish cleaving with arrowy 

 swiftness the cairn waters of the " blue Moselle "? 



" Cum tranquillos moliris in amne meatus, 

 Te virides ripae, te caerula turba natantum, 

 Te liquids mirantur aqua?, diffunditur alveo 

 Justus, et extremi procurrunt marline fluctus." 



