54 HOW TO TIE FLIES. 



recommended in other recipes, but should be 

 poured direct into whatever receptacle is chosen 

 for it. In my own experience I have found none 

 so convenient as the collapsible tubes in which oil 

 paints are sold. These may be obtained from 

 Messrs. Windsor and Newton, artists' colourmen, 

 Rathbone Place, London. The price is Is. 6d. per 

 dozen, postage extra. The advantages of these 

 tubes are, that when closed they are perfectly air- 

 tight, and that even when they are open a very 

 small surface of the liquid is exposed. The tube 

 may be laid open upon the table without fear of 

 spilling, and the amount of wax taken on the tip 

 of the finger may be controlled with the greatest 

 nicety, Immunity from breakage is another 

 advantage which the tubes possess. 



The advantages which I claim for the wax are, 

 that it is more transparent than any other at 

 present known, that it is free from the faults of 

 many other waxes brittleness, hardness, and the 

 like, and that it is quite insoluble in water, and 

 holds well, even when the fly is saturated with 

 paraffin, a test, by the way, which, since the 

 introduction of eyed hooks, few flies are called 

 upon to bear. 



To clean the vessel in which the wax has been 

 prepared, the following mixture will be found 

 useful : 



Paraffin oil 3 parts 



Washing soda 2 parts 



Water 5 parts 



This should be shaken well round the inside, 

 and rubbed on the rim and outside of the vessel. 

 If this is done before the wax has time to harden, 

 all traces of the latter may be easily removed. 

 The above mixture, which is in reality a liquid, 

 soap, is very good for scouring purposes generally. 

 Being perfectly soluble in water, it does not leave 

 the taint of paraffin behind it. 



