20 HOW TO TIE FLIES. 



slightly barbed hook would not secure a good 

 hold, one with a prominent barb would be unlikely 

 to penetrate over the barb at all. Of the in-barb 

 and the out-barb hooks, the former will usually 

 lock itself more securely in the flesh, since the 

 more pressure is on the inner or upper surface of 

 the wire. However, it is probable that in the 

 majority of cases either barb would fulfil its 

 duties satisfactorily enough. If the out-barb 

 loses its hold it is more likely to be because 

 insufficient attention is paid in its design to the 

 requirement of deep penetration. 



Mr. Pennell gives as the chief criterion of the 

 holding power of a hook one which I cannot 

 think is of any real importance at all. After 

 stating what I have already quoted regarding the 

 typical position of a hook after it has penetrated, 

 he proceeds to say : 



" In this case it is evident that, when once hooked, 

 the nearer the point approaches the shank of the hook 

 the less chance must the fish have of escaping. This 

 will be seen by carrying the principal to the extreme 

 limit and assuming that the point was so bent in after 

 hooking as actually to touch the shank the fish's lip 

 would then be inclosed in a complete triangle, from 

 which, of course, there could be no possible escape." 



This style of argument (viz., from one limiting 

 case) is a very deceptive one, and by no means 

 conclusive. It matters little to most of us, for 

 instance, whether we have a doorway 8ft. high or 

 10ft. high by which to make our exit from a 

 room, and if we find we can enter without incon- 

 venience we should scarcely be inclined to have 

 any further misgivings. And yet we could prove 

 the contrary of this just as logically as Mr. 

 Pennell reasons above. Since, if on our entry the 

 doorway were to close up into a mere crack in the 

 wall, it would be useless as a means of egress ! A 

 design for a hook that does not provide sufficient 



