2(8 1 ISH-HnoKS OF WOOD FROM FRANCE. 



never allow yourselves to be satisfied even in your ideal. Never 

 lose sense of the imperfection of human knowledge and especially 

 of your own. Never allow the sense of what has been known, 

 great and wonderful as that is, to dim the higher sense of how 

 little we know as yet, how much there is to know. 



FISH-HOOKS OR GORGES OF WOOD FROM 

 FRANCE (SIMILAR TO THOSE FROM 

 ESSEX). 



By EDWARD LOVETT. 



[Read January 26th, igoi.j 



In the Essex Naturalist for April, 1898 (vol. x., pages 

 300-305) 1 described and figured some primitive fish-hooks of 

 wood still in use on a part of the coast of Essex. At that time 

 I had heard that similar hooks were used in some parts of 

 France and Russia (and probably elsewhere). For some time I 

 made every possible enquiry as to these, but without success. 



At length, however, I was fortunate in hearing that M. 

 Fran9ois Daleau, of Bourg-sur-Gironde, France, could assist me, 

 and I at once wrote to this gentleman. His reply was indeed a 

 surprise, for it was to the effect that on the Gironde fish-hooks 

 of wood Avere used, not only like the Essex form, but actually 

 made of the same wood, the White-thorn. 



I sent him a line of our Essex thorn hooks, with a copy of 

 the Essex Naturalist containing my paper, and he very kindly 

 gave me a series of similar hooks from his locality, together with 

 a copy of his most interesting pamphlet, extracts from whicli I 

 have reprinted below. 



It will be seen from his paper that the "survival" of the 

 primaval fishermen is almost exactly alike on the Essex coast, 

 and on the banks of the Gironde, but at the latter place we find 

 the true gorge which again was evidently known in Essex, as 

 will be seen from my correspondence with " Tom " recorded 

 below 



This true gorge is most interesting as regards its distribu- 

 tion, for I have stone examples of it from Hudson's Bay ; bone 

 specimens from Alaska (for catching sea-birds) ; and turtle-shell 

 forms of the same thing from Santa Cruz, for taking b'lying-fish. 



