ANGLERS' IMITATIVE DEVICES. 47 



rent in universal nature. He throws his fly lightly 

 and with elegance on the surface of the glittering 

 waters, because he knows that an insect, with outspread 

 gauzy wings would so fall ; but he does not imitate (or 

 if he does so, his practice proceeds upon an erroneous 

 principle), either in the air or in his favourite element, 

 the flight or the motion of a particular species, because 

 he also knows that trouts are not very conversant in 

 the peculiarities of species, and that their omnivorous 

 propensities induce them, when inclined for food, to 

 rise with equal eagerness at every minute thing which 

 creepeth upon the earth or swimmeth in the waters. 

 On this fact he generalises and this is the philosophy 

 of fishing." 



It would be easy to prove these sound scientific re- 

 marks by the actual practice of the best routine anglers, 

 who will, no doubt, treat them as arrant heresy ; for 

 all their success must depend upon these very princi- 

 ples; even when they imagine they cannot angle with- 

 out a great variety of flies without flies adapted to 

 each particular river, as well as to each season of the 

 year, and to the morning, noon, and night of the same 

 day. I cannot better illustrate the principle, indeed, 

 than by the following narrative from " Barker's De- 

 light." In treating of the Hearing of Fish, I hare 

 mentioned that Barker went out in the dark and had 

 good sport, by baiting with lob-worms. 



"The night," he goes on to say, "began to alter and 

 grow lighter. I took off the lob- worms, and set to my 

 rod a white palmer-fly, made of a large hook ; I had 

 good sport for some time, until it grew lighter ; so I took 



