232 : 
STURGEON. 
is said to be still an article of merchandize among 
the Turks, Greeks, and Venetians. It is made, as 
we have just observed, of the roe, which the per- 
sons who are employed for the purpose separate 
from the fish ; and having cleared it from the small 
membranes that connect it together, they wash it 
with vinegar, and afterwards spread it to dry upon 
a table. The spawn is then put into a vessel with 
salt, and broken into small pieces, after which it is 
removed into a canvass bag to drain ; and lastly it is 
taken to a tub with holes in the bottom, where if 
there be any moisture still remaining it may run 
out. In this tub it is firmly pressed down, and 
covered up close for use. 
The back and sides of the sturgeon are well 
guarded from injury by five rows of large bony 
tubercles, each of which is terminated by a sharp 
curved point, in a reversed direction. The skin is 
covered with very small tubercles of a similar form. 
This fish has a very long and slender nose, which 
ends in a point. The mouth is situated beneath, 
and is destitute of teeth : four long tendrils, or 
beards, are placed between this and the end of the 
nose. The manners of the sturgeon seem perfectly 
inoffensive ; and he is said to be content with the 
marine insects which he finds at the bottom of the 
sea, as these are chiefly found in the stomach when 
the fish is opened. 
It appears that the sturgeon was a celebrated fish 
among the antients, and so highly relished by the 
Greeks and Romans, that, according to Pliny, it 
