very little use is made of it. From Virginia up to the highest habitable northern latitudes, they ascend the rivers 300 to 500 miles up. From 30,000 to 40,000 sturgeons might be caught annually in the before-named rivers, and without counting the rivers farther north of Maine, the annual export of pickled sturgeon, caviare, and isinglass alone would be worth 500,000 dollars. The sturgeon is not, however, much esteemed in America; it brings scarcely twopence a pound in the market, and the roe and swimming-bladder are always thrown away. There are two species of sturgeon which frequent the American riversthe round-nosed (Accipenser rubicundus), which is generally eight feet or more long, and weighs over 200 lbs. ; and the sharp or shovel nosed (Scaphirhyncus platyrhyncus), which is seldom more than five feet long, and weighs about 150 lbs. or more. In Russia some are found which weigh 500 lbs., and in which weighed 1000 lbs.

Norway one was caught

In the Hudson river thousands are captured annually -a number of persons making this their sole business. Immense nets are cast; but instead of hauling them entire, their floats are watched, and when one goes down a sturgeon is calculated on. The net is drawn at that point, his sturgeonship is hauled into a "scow," and the net is dropped again for a fresh victim. Inshore the fishermen. have pens where the fish are kept for market. Lots of them go to Albany, where they are considered "tit-bits." Thousands of them are cut up and tried for the oil which they yield in abundance.

Chinese Isinglass.-Isinglass or fish-glue is very extensively employed in China for a great number of purposes. This substance, which is obtained in Europe by treating principally the swimming-bladder of the sturgeon, is made

in China in another manner. There we meet in commerce with plates of a horny appearance, whitish, and of a tissue resembling animal membrane. These plates are of dif ferent forms, and bear in China the name of ju-ka. This substance, dissolved in water, forms a glue of an excellent quality, which is specially employed by cabinet-makers, furniture being an industry for which Ningpo is justly renowned. This glue has properties much resembling gelatine. Like gelatine, it is very nitrogenous, furnishing by distillation ammoniacal compounds and a bulky charcoal. This, incinerated, gives a whitish ash, composed probably of phosphate of lime.

In an industrial point of view it differs from isinglass by furnishing a glue of very considerable resistance. That of the best quality is reserved for the manufacture of furniture of the highest class, and is employed to unite pieces of wood which are required to resist great strain. Besides its industrial uses, this fish-glue is highly esteemed for food purposes by, the Chinese.

The three kinds of fish chiefly used for obtaining isinglass in China are:-1. The My-yu (Sciana lucida), having greyish scales; 2. Ta-houang-yu (Otolithus maculatus), the head, fins, etc., of which are of a bright yellow; 3. Mung-pu (Anguilla (Murana) pekinensis, Basilewski). To obtain the swimming-bladder the gills are removed, and by introducing the finger into the interior the airbladder is obtained. The intestinal and membranous parts which surround this organ are separated, and with a knife it is split longitudinally; the two lips are lifted, and a whitish membrane, which is found on each side, is taken out. In this state it is sold for food purposes. It is boiled a certain time in water, but does not dissolve, forming only a gelatinous mass of an insipid flavour. With the third

named fish, of the eel species, the belly is opened, and the organ, which is often of great size, removed.

The glue which is made is of excellent quality, but often yellow or grey tinted, according to the inferior quality of the substance employed. It is thus prepared :— The ju-ka is washed in water for about two hours, then taken out and placed in a water-bath for a certain time. When, by the touch, it is found to be soft, it is removed and beaten with a heavy iron hammer. This is said to be a delicate operation, which should be done at the proper time. The substance is then flattened and rolled by the hand, and horizontal incisions are made, so that the air may more readily reach it and the drying be more rapid. When the glue is to be used, it is broken in pieces, put in a water-bath, with a little water to dissolve it.

It is probable if the Chinese isinglass were treated with sulphurous acid, a better commercial product might be obtained.

Besides its use for food purposes in China, isinglass is employed medicinally. That which is very transparent is most esteemed. It is usually met with in long, channelled pieces, transparent, of a dull yellow colour. Gelatine is often substituted for it, which is in long, opaque tablets, of a deep brown, and is made from the skins of different animals.

From the ports of Hiogo and Osaka, in Japan, the exports of isinglass to Shanghai and Hongkong were in

In many of the French colonies it is stated that large quantities of valuable isinglass are lost to commerce from carelessness and ignorance. At Senegal and at Mahé the

swimming-bladders are thrown away with the entrails. At Newfoundland they form part of the food of the seamen, and a few barrels are sent to France. From Cochin China a small quantity is shipped to China. From Cayenne 9774 lbs., valued at £1066, were shipped in 1874. The average annual imports of isinglass into China were, in the five years ending 1870, 2953 piculs of 133 lbs., and in the five years ending 1875, 3934 piculs.

Fish-Maws are the swimming-bladders or sounds of different fish, extracted and merely dried in the sun, and considered a great luxury by the Chinese, as possessing strengthening properties. They are extensively collected on the Malabar coast and shipped to Bombay, from whence large quantities are re-exported, principally to China and the Straits Settlements.

In the official year ending 1872, 9008 cwts. of fishmaws and sharks' fins, valued at £30,100, were exported from Bombay. From Penang 2277 piculs were shipped in 1870, and from Singapore 125,946 cwt., valued at £13,717. They often fetch as much as £14 the cwt. in the Canton market.

CHAPTER IX.

OTHER FISH PRODUCTS AND THEIR USES.

Miscellaneous uses of parts of fishes-Scales of fish-Articles made from them— Skin of fishes; applications of it-Shark skin-Ray skins-Shagreen and galuchat-Fish flour-Fish paste-Guanine, or pearl essence.

SOME of the miscellaneous uses of parts of fish are curious. Thus, the serrated spine of the ray fish is used by the Indians of the Amazon to arm their arrows. In India the jawbone of the boalee fish (Silurus boalis) is employed by the natives about Dacca. The teeth being small, recurved, and closely set, act as a fine comb for carding cotton, in removing the loose and coarse fibres and all extraneous matters from the cotton wool. Sharks' teeth are used in arming weapons, and the teeth of sharks and other fish as trinkets. The jaws of the sleeper shark (Somniosus brevipinna) are used for head-dresses by the North American Indians. Fish bones are used by Indians and Eskimo in making implements; sharks' vertebræ for canes ; the bones of the whale for weapons. Those of sharks and skates are used in Japan in making imitation tortoise-shell. Among the islands of the Corean Archipelago, the children use the dried spiral eggs of a species of skate or some other cartilaginous fish as rattles, having first introduced a few small pebbles to assist in making a noise.

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