104 THE SEA-DEVIL, &c. 



it is handled or eaten with perfect safety. It has lately been 

 discovered that some other fishes of the ray kind possess the 

 same benumbing quality, which, like the sting of the fire-flare, 

 has undoubtedly been bestowed on them by a Providence all- 

 gracious and all-wise, as an effectual defence against the preda- 

 ceous tyrants of the deep ; for unless it be instantaneously sur- 

 prised, so as not to be able to prepare for giving the stroke, it 

 deprives them in a moment of the means of annoyance. 



We cannot here restrain our admiration, when we consider 

 how wonderfully Infinite Wisdom has, by a hidden and myste- 

 rious quality, enabled the torpedo to set at defiance the attacks 

 of creatures endowed with the most formidable powers. 



There are two other species of the ray, which on account of 

 their singularity, merit attention. 



THE SEA-DEVIL 



Has its snout divided as it were into two horns, and its sides 

 are terminated by the fins. It grows sometimes to the length 

 of seven feet. 



THE SEA-EAGLE 



Receives its appellation from the expansion of its sides resem- 

 bling the spread wings of an eagle. Its head is somewhat like 

 that of a toad, and its eyes are large and prominent. It is gen- 

 erally found small, but is said to grow sometimes to a very large 

 size. 



THE STURGEON 



Constitutes another distinct class. It is long, pentagonal, 

 and covered with five rows of large long knobs, one on the back, 

 and two on each side, with a number of fins to promote its 

 velocity in swimming. Though the sturgeon be nearly as large 

 as the shark, and its figure almost as terrible, it is notwithstand- 

 ing exceedingly inoffensive. Of this fish there are three distnict 

 kinds, the common sturgeon, the cariar, and the isinglass fish. 



About the beginning of summer, the sturgeons come up the 

 rivers to deposit their spawn. They visit in this manner every 

 country of Europe ; but the inhabitants along the banks of the 

 Po, the Danube, and the Wolga, are those who derive the great- 

 est advantage from the sturgeon fishery. At Pillau, the shores 

 are formed into districts allotted to companies of fishermen, at 

 the annual rent of about three hundred pounds for each distinct 

 fishery. 



The sturgeon, when pickled, is well known, and greatly 

 esteemed throughout all Europe. A very considerable trade is 

 also carried on with the roe of the caviar, preserved in a partic- 



