66 MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER. 
sense of the term implies contentment with what is; 
and if that were my condition in regard to the theory 
and practice of Angling, and especially of fly-fishing, 
this book would certainly not have been written. The 
measures which I am about to submit to the general 
parliament of anglers are decidedly radical—revolu- 
tionary would not be too strong a term,—for they aim 
at revolutionizing the fundamental principles of the fly- 
fisher’s ‘constitution’—the very alpha and omega of 
his craft—I mean the system of artificial flies. 
Trout fly-fishers may nowadays be divided roughly 
into two parties, which may be described as the 
‘“colourists,’ or those who think “colour” everything. 
and “form” nothing ; and the “formalists,” or “ entomo- 
logists” as they have been sometimes termed, who 
hold, with the late Mr. Ronalds, that the natural flies 
actually on the water at any given time should be 
exactly imitated by the artificial fly used, down to the 
most minute particulars of form and tinting. The latter 
class includes probably the very great majority of 
anglers—both apostles and disciples—who have probably 
in most cases imbibed their opinions, until recently 
unchallenged, almost unconsciously and without ever 
questioning their soundness. The “colourists” are still 
but a section, though an increasing one, of the general 
fly-fishing community, and are represented by a few 
enterprising spirits in advance not only of their age, but 
also of the truth. The theories of both I hold to be dis- 
