116 STURIONES. 



inch long, including some portion of the head, — ■ 

 gently curved at the end, like a spoon handle. 



It is a complete web of bony fibres, running in 

 every direction, apparently in the wildest confu- 

 sion, yet its strength and elasticity entirely depend 

 on this peculiar structure. 



Dr Hildreth, of Marietta, says that this is also 

 called the paddle-nosed sturgeon, — the Polyodon 

 Feuille of Lacipede, and the Spatularia of some 

 other writers. The sturgeon from which this 

 spatula was taken, was speared at Letart's Falls, 

 in June, 1830, a few miles above Pomeroy's coal 

 bank, Meig's county, 260 miles below Pittsburg, 

 and weighed forty pounds. 



At the great falls of Lawrenceville, the same 

 fish is called the hill-fish. For particulars, see 

 Silliman's Journal, Vol. xii, No 2. 



Settling itself into the soft ooze, with its head 

 towards the current, — the sturgeon allows the 

 cirri to float, just above its nose, — and there it 

 patiently waits, till some fish, allured by the sight 

 of the buoyant tendrils, — dives to pick them up, 

 when the crafty deceiver pounces on its unsuspect- 

 ing prey, with unfailing success. 



In summer only, the sturgeon is seen in Boston 

 harbor, from six to nine feet in length, leaping 

 from the water. The force with which it propels 

 itself towards an object on the surface, carries it 



