206 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



as in the formation of the round rod, and therefore is a 

 stronger rod. 



While this looks plausible enough to the superficial 

 reasoner, it has no foundation in fact. The hexagonal 

 rod is not a true six-sided figure, but rather a round 

 figure with six angles; for the face of each section is 

 of course slightly rounded, or convex, as it originally 

 existed in the cane, and the extremely small amount of 

 outside surface that is taken off at the angles to make 

 the rod perfectly round does not amount to any thing in 

 reality, or weaken the rod a particle. On the contrary, 

 it lessens the liability of the sections becoming separated 

 by use, from the prominence of the jointed angles or 

 seams, as in the hexagonal rod, which are liable to 

 become bruised or chipped off by striking or rubbing 

 against hard substances, as rocks, trees, boats, etc., and 

 so exposing the seams to the action of air and moisture, 

 Avhich softens the glue and causes the strips to separate. 



Another plan has been advocated, to reverse the pro- 

 cess in sawing the strips, and place the enamel or outside 

 coating at the interior of the rod. And still another, 

 and somewhat better plan, by the way, has been proposed, 

 more especially for tips, as follows : 



a n 



n D 



The shaded sides of the sections represent the outer 

 coating. The sections are to be pressed together, and 

 glued in the position in which they are drawn in the 

 figure, which brings the enamel of each strip partly in- 

 side and partly outside ; the piece is then worked down 



