" COURT " ETIQUETTE. 35 



cherous flies," wherever they may happen to be ! 

 Certainly not. He must have the politeness to 

 " drop a line," neatly and carefully, at the mo- 

 narchial dwelling, coax its occupant to accept of 

 the proffered invitation to be led a dance by the 

 nose, and, in due course, to be transferred, con 

 amore, into the osier retreat of his fish basket. 

 But to be serious. This knowledge, as we have 

 said, is indispensable, and it can only be acquired 

 by observation and experience, for the peculiari- 

 ties of every river render it impossible to give 

 general instructions. 



It is thought probable and the opinion is 

 supported by Buffon, Yarrell, and many other emi- 

 nent naturalists that fishes are led to their prey 

 chiefly by their sense of smelling. Such, indeed, 

 is the abundance of the olfactory nerves in certain 

 fishes, that the celebrated Cuvier conjectured that 

 "something more important than the occasional 

 power of smelling is given them." This addi- 

 tional function he conceived to be that of recog- 

 nising certain substances not in themselves odori- 

 ferous when mixed with or dissolved in water 

 thus enabling the fish to make a selection of such 

 waters as may be purest, or otherwise adapted to 

 their habits. Mr. Stoddart is undoubtedly cor- 

 rect in stating that trout, when feeding on flies, 

 D 2 



