192 " CAVIARE," AND ITS SOURCE. 



right to the king. In France, the same privilege was 

 bestowed by certain charters on the great lords. The 

 Emperor of all the Russias similarly monopolized it, and 

 supplied himself, and the crowned heads, his particular 

 allies, with the white or finest caviare. 



The sturgeon is still held in high estimation as an 

 edible ; but the eggs are more valued than the flesh. 

 After they have been very carefully selected, they are 

 washed, and kneaded up with salt and various condi- 

 ments, to form red or black caviare, which is extensively 

 used in Russia, Greece, Italy, and France. The finest 

 caviare is made from the roe of the Accipenser ruthenus, 

 or Sterlet, and is reserved for the Russian court. The 

 preparation of caviare forms one of the staple trades of 

 Astracan, and upwards of four hundred thousand pounds 

 have been prepared in the Caspian fishery in a single year. 

 The species which chiefly furnish it are the Osseter 

 (Accipenser galdenstadtii), the Bielaga or Great Sturgeon, 

 (Accipenser huso), and the Scherg or Scoruga (Accipenser 

 stellatus). That it was in favour in England as early as 

 the reign of Elizabeth, we know from Shakespeare's 

 allusion : " It is caviare to the multitude." Isinglass is 

 manufactured to a large extent from the swim-bladder 

 as, indeed, its name indicates, being nothing less than a 

 corruption of the German hausen-blasse, or sturgeon's 

 bladder. 



The sturgeon-fishery, according to ancient and modern 

 writers, is conducted in many ways. When these fish 

 appear in a river, it seems that you need only run along 

 the banks, 'rending the air with your shouts, to frighten 

 them into shallow water, where they necessarily become 



