| Antique Print Fish Fishing Art - Natural History Print A beautiful illustration from a British Victorian natural history book. The quality of the illustrations is superb, some of the best of the period. A wonderful engraving of the Giant and Common Sturgeon.
'In this remarkable fish the mouth is placed well under the head, and in fact seems to be set almost in the throat, the long snout appearing to be entirely a superfluous ornament. One or two species of Sturgeon are important in commerce, as two valuable articles, namely isinglass and caviar are made from them. Caviare is made from the roe of this fish, and as nearly three millions of eggs have been taken from a single fish, the amount of caviare that one Sturgeon can afford is rather large. It is made by removing all the membranes, and then washing the roe carefully with vinegar or white wine. It is next dried thoroughly in the air, well salted, subjected to strong pressure in order to force out all moisture and lastly packed in little barrels for sale. The caviar made on the Caspian is considered the best. In England it is not much eaten, but in Russia it forms a large item in the national consumption, probably on account of the great number of fasts observed by the Greek Church.
The common Sturgeon has sometimes, but not very often, been found in our rivers and whenever it is captured in the Thames within the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor of London, it is termed a royal fish, and becomes the property of the Crown'. (1874) |
