THE LIVING WORLD. 
85 
common sturgeon, or sterlet (Acipenser sturio). 
The Whip Ray wields its tail like a horsewhip, and its sharp spines are 
capable of inflicting very painful wounds. The ray fish produces oblong eggs, 
which are provided with ribbons, by means of which they are fastened to plants, 
or rocks. 
The Globe Fish is curious alike from its form and its coloring. Its egg- 
shaped body has three dots which represent two eyes and a mouth; a queer 
little tail crops out from half way 
up one side. 
The Sturgeon is frequently 
found in European waters, is of the 
length of ten or twelve feet, and the 
weight of several hundred pounds. 
Its flesh resembles veal, and is 
esteemed “ a dainty dish to set before a king,” if one is to judge from the 
sumptuary legislation of King Henry, of England, who forbade all but roy¬ 
alty to feast upon this fish. 
The species of sturgeon known as Acipenser has reached the weight of 
several thousand pounds, 
^=£^■4 and is caught in the 
. —) Caspian and Black Sea, 
and in Russia, for the 
sake of the isinglass to 
be obtained from its air 
bladder. 
The Sterlet (Aci¬ 
penser ruthenus ) is use¬ 
ful to commerce by 
means of its roe, which appears upon the table in the form of what Shakespeare 
called the “ caviare to the general.” Bearing in mind the great weight attained 
by the sturgeon, the fact that the roe forms one-third of this, and that hundreds of 
thousands are annually caught, one will realize the sturgeon’s contribution to the 
support of mankind, whether by 
furnishing an article of diet, or by 
providing employment for fisher¬ 
men, merchantmen, and all en¬ 
gaged in transportation, com¬ 
merce, or the selling of provi¬ 
sions and ship stores. The spe¬ 
cies found in the Hudson River 
is used by the poorer classes as 
food, and its coarse flesh is some- , , ,, 
times called Albany beef, but it can never be regarded as a palatable dish. 
The Gar Pikes (. Lepidostida ;) are, with the exception of the Amencan 
species, fossil forms. They are clothed in a tough, scaly armor; have a beuk- 
shaped mouth, and illustrate the more rudimentary forms of lungs and of gill 
breathing. Qn Gar Pike, or Alligator Gar, (Lefndosleus tristcechus) , , is a 
familiar sight in Southern waters. Against it boys wage the most incessant 
warfare, for it interferes alike with their bathing privileges, and with their 
pike (Lepidosteus osseus). 
SEA boy (Julis vulgaris ). 
