THE COMPLETE ANGLER 135 



anointed with a drop, or two or three, of the oil of ivy- 

 berries, made by expression or infusion ; and told, that 

 by the worms remaining in that box an hour, or a like 

 time, they had incorporated a kind of smell that was 

 irresistibly attractive, enough to force any fish within the 

 smell of them, to bite. This I heard not long since from a 

 friend, but have not tried it ; yet I grant it probable, and 

 refer my reader to Sir Francis Bacon's Natural History, 

 where he proves fishes may hear, and doubtless can more 

 probably smell : and I am certain Gesner says the otter 



THE SALMON-FLY 



can smell in the water, and I know not but that fish may 

 do so too : it is left for a lover of angling, or any that 

 desires to improve that art, to try this conclusion.* 



I shall also impart two other experiments (but not tried 

 by myself), which I will deliver in the same words that they 

 were given me, by an excellent angler, and a very friend, 

 in writing : he told me the latter was too good to be told, 

 but in a learned language, lest it should be made common. 



" Take the stinking oil drawn out of the polypody of 

 the oak by a retort, mixed with turpentine and hive-honey, 



* By the word " conclusion," Walton means " experiment." He 

 was too practical a bottom-fisher to have faith in scented baits. E. 



