HOOKS. 181 



is immersed in candle-grease, where it gains 

 a black colour ; it is then finished. 



Phys. — Nothing seems simpler than this 

 process. Surely London might furnish ma- 

 nufacturers for so easy a manipulation; and 

 I should think one of our friends, who is so 

 admirable a cutler, might even improve upon 

 the Irish process; at least the tempering 

 might be more scientifically arranged ; for 

 instance, by the thermometer, and a bath of 

 fusible metal, the temperature at which steel 

 becomes blue, being 580° Fah., might be 

 constantly preserved. 



Hal. — Habit teaches our Irish artists this 

 point with sufficient precision. We should 

 have such hooks in England, but the object 

 of the fishing tackle makers is to obtain them 

 cheap, and most of their hooks are made to 

 sell, and good hooks cannot be sold but at a 

 good price. 



PoiET. — I have heard formerly a good 

 angler complain that the Limerick hooks were 

 too heavy and clumsy. He preferred hooks 

 made at Kendal in Cumberland. 



Hal. — I saw, twenty years ago, hooks far 

 N 3 



