OUR OPINION OF IMITATION. 127 



ultra-imitationists) entirely blind themselves to 

 this latter circumstance. " Because A. caught 

 fish yesterday with a particular fly/' argue they, 

 " therefore B. must do so to-day." But it turns 

 out that B. does not do so, that he fails, and per- 

 haps wholly so because he could not, or did not, 

 supply this very important part of imitation 

 action. We suppose everything to be equal in 

 the case of these imaginary persons except skill) 

 or something else on which this action depended. 

 Every angler of the smallest experience must 

 know how convenient it is to attribute un- 

 successful fishing to the fly alone, and how very 

 frequently it is unjustly done. 



It is the general characteristics of the natural 

 fly which alone ought to be, or indeed can be, 

 imitated; for all insects, especially those which 

 belong to the category of the fly-fisher, are distin- 

 guished for their beauty of form and delicacy of 

 construction. Let us, however, refer to what we 

 have called the " main points" of imitation. Size : 

 this needs no more remark than we shall make 

 elsewhere with reference to the adaptation of the 

 fly to particular states of the water and atmo- 

 sphere; Colour : it is important, in imitation, to 

 observe whether the general colour of the natural 

 insect imitated be light or dark, warm or cold ; and 



