42 HOOKS. 



should procure all sorts, trout and salmon, large 

 and small, of O'Shaughnessy's, or Sell's Limerick, 

 manufacture. But of whatever make, first 

 test their strength by sticking the points in a soft 

 piece of mahogany and tugging away by the 

 shank ; or holding the shank with pincers, pulling 

 the bend by a loop of string. But as in either of 

 these methods you may pull harder than is requi- 

 site, and so condemn unfairly, test your hooks 

 by " Siebe's Weighing Machine." If the smallest 

 for grilse will draw down fifteen pounds, and the 

 midge-trout one pound and a half, they will do. 

 They should be tough : if they break too easily, 

 or at these respective weights, they are too brittle; 

 if they bend and lose their shape, they are too 

 soft ; so choose the happy medium, if you can hit 

 upon it. About a quarter of a hundred of each 

 size will be about the quantum snff. 



I have met with nothing for temper equal 

 to O'Shaughnessy's, or Sell's. It is the fashion 

 to praise the former, and I think the latter, 

 perhaps, still better and more uniform in their 

 several sizes and shapes. 



Here are drawings : No. 1, the Common Li- 

 merick, and No. 2, O'Shaughnessy's or Sell's 

 bend, which are alike. 



No. 2. No. 1. 



