554 THE OCEAN WORLD. 
the muzzle; and its jaws, in place of teeth, are furnished with 
cartilages. Between the mouth and the muzzle are a few slender 
and very elastic barbules. It is pretended that these barbules 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, and other 
fishes of moderate size. In the rivers it attacks. the salmon, which 
ascend them about the same time. Mingling with them, however, 
it seems a giant. It deposits its eggs in great quantity. The roe of 
the female fish, when cleaned, washed in vinegar, and dried, is sold as 
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 recherché than the common sturgeon. Among the 
ancients this fish was held in unusual esteem. In Rome, 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 (Acépenser juso), which sometimes exceeds 
1,000 lbs. in weight, is only found in the rivers which flow into the 
Caspian and Black Seas, such as the Volga, the Don, and the 
Danube. 
We are indebted to the Russian naturalist Pallas for the informa- 
tion we possess respecting the mode of taking the sturgeon in the 
Volga 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 
towards the end of the winter and of osier hurdles during summer. 
The fishermen establish themselves upon a sort of scaffold, placed 
over the opening.. When the fish are entangled in the reservoir, the 
men upon the scaffold drop a gate, which prevents their return to the 
sea. ‘The movable bottom of the chamber is now raised, and the 
fishes easily taken, as represented in PLaTE XXIV. 
The fishermen are informed during the day of the approach of the 
sturgeons to the great enclosure by the movement they communicate 
to cords suspended to small floating substances in the water. During, 
the night the sturgeons enter the enclosure, agitating by their move- 
ments other cords arranged round the ‘hurdles. The agitation: 
