SPRAT.]

THE SPRAT.--This migratory fish, is rarely found longer than
four or five inches, and visits the shores of Britain after the
herring and other kinds of fish have taken their departure from
them. On the coasts of Suffolk, Essex, and Kent, they are very
abundant, and from 400 to 500 boats are employed in catching
them during the winter season. Besides plentifully supplying the
London market, they are frequently sold at sixpence a bushel to
farmers for manuring purposes. They enter the Thames about the
beginning of November, and leave it in March. At Yarmouth and
Gravesend they are cured like red herrings.

BAKED STURGEON.

332. INGREDIENTS.--1 small sturgeon, salt and pepper to taste, 1 small
bunch of herbs, the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/4 lb. of butter, 1 pint of
white wine.

_Mode_,--Cleanse the fish thoroughly, skin it, and split it along the
belly without separating it; have ready a large baking-dish, in which
lay the fish, sprinkle over the seasoning and herbs very finely minced,
and moisten it with the lemon-juice and wine. Place the butter in small
pieces over the whole of the fish, put it in the oven, and baste
frequently; brown it nicely, and serve with its own gravy.

_Time_.--Nearly 1 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. to 1s. 6d. per lb.

_Seasonable_ from August to March.

[Illustration: THE STURGEON.]

THE STURGEON.--This fish commences the sixth of Linnaean order,
and all the species are large, seldom measuring, when
full-grown, less than three or four feet in length. Its flesh is
reckoned extremely delicious, and, in the time of the emperor
Severus, was so highly valued by the ancients, that it was
brought to table by servants crowned with coronets, and preceded
by a band of music. It is an inhabitant of the Baltic, the
Mediterranean, the Caspian, and the Black Sea, and of the
Danube, the Volga, the Don, and other large rivers. It is
abundant in the rivers of North America, and is occasionally
taken in the Thames, as well as in the Eske and the Eden. It is
one of those fishes considered as royal property. It is from its
_roe_ that _caviare_, a favourite food of the Russians, is
prepared. Its flesh is delicate, firm, and white, but is rare in
the London market, where it sells for 1s. or 1s. 6d. per lb.

THE STERLET is a smaller species of sturgeon, found in the
Caspian Sea and some Russian rive