THE COMMON STURGEON-. 
*55 
®squa!nted with the compofition of this glue, fo ufeful in 
^atiy fpecies of manufa&ure : It was probably made up 
V them in a fimilar rianner, from a fifli that had this ve- 
T y name *: It is ufeful as a glue for paper, mufical inftru- 
^ents, and cementing every flender fabric of wood. It 
,s well known to the varnillier, the apothecary, and the 
clothier. 
The lize of the fturgeon depends upon the place of its 
tefidence ; where it is confined either in frefli or fait wa- 
ter > it is comparatively fmall ; but where it alternately 
en JOys both, it grows often to the length of eighteen 
fee t, and weighs from four to five hundred pounds ; of 
^' 3 magnitude one was caught in the river Ejh, in Bri~ 
* a \ n > and in the larger rivers of the continent, fome at- 
jain even to a fuperior fize f. The body of this fifh is 
0t % a nd of a pentagonal form, on account of five rows 
0f large bony fcales, which proceed from the head along 
as far as the dorfal fin, one upon the back, and two up- 
0tl each fide. The head is fmall and protuberant at the 
ftl ° u t ; the eyes are fmall in proportion to the fifh, and 
irides are of a filver grey: The mouth, without 
Clt her jaws or teeth, is fituated confiderably below the 
'^temity of the nofe, and in the middle fpace between 
' le m, fpnng out a few bridles : The firft pair of fins are 
^ ac ed immediately befide the gills ; the fecondpair near 
k anus, and a third between that and the tail ; upon the 
c their is but one fin. 
le durgeon differs from the other cartilaginous 
fifhi 
trib 
ter 
,^ S ln * he manner of its generation ; like the fpinous 
s Jt is oviparous, and depofits its fpawn in the win- 
months^. 
lln u, Lib. xxxii. cap 7. 
* £c ‘t- Zool, 
f Rondclctius, 
