COMPOSITION BAITS. 



37 



both for trout and salmon," contended in favor of acuteness 

 in the smell of fishes. In an old volume on " The Secrets of 

 Angling," by J. Davors, published in 1813, I find the fol- 

 lowing : 



" To bless thy bait and make the fish to bite, 

 Lo ! here's a means, if thou canst hit it right : 

 Take gum of life, well beat and laid to soak 

 In oil well drawn of ivy which kills the oak. 

 Fish where thou wilt, thou shalt have sport thy fill ; 

 When others fail, thou shalt be sure to kill.." 



M. Chars, who was apothecary to Louis XIV., composed a 

 perfume which attracted all kinds of fresh- water fishes by the 

 use of cat's fat, heron's grease, the best asafoetida, Egyptian 

 mummy finely powdered, aniseed, camphor, galbanum, Yen- 

 ice turpentine, and civet. These he made into the consist- 

 ence of thin ointment by means of oil of lavender, of aniseed, 

 and camomile, which may be preserved for a year or two if 

 kept where the air is excluded. The bait and about eight 

 inches of line are directed to be anointed with this to attract 

 fish. 



Of the numerous scented baits recommended, Walton wrote 

 in favor of petroleum, and Daniell suggested that tar is most 

 attractive in the composition of a scented ointment for bait. 

 But the most fascinating of such pastes for fresh-water fishes is 

 that composed of the roe of salmon ; and I should be opposed 

 to its use if millions of salmon-eggs were not annually wasted 

 along most of the salmon rivers ; and it is to be hoped that, 

 by the means of science, some successful theory may soon be 

 adopted for turning this seed into the waters to restock them, 

 for it is morally revolting to an angler to contemplate the 

 great loss by the depletion of the waters from the waste of 

 ova. While the wholesale waste continues, those who desire 

 to make bait from the roe of fishes should sprinkle it with 

 salt, and then put it down in a pot in alternate layers with 

 wool. Rev. W. B. Daniell advised the taking of a pound of 

 roe in September, and, after boiling it fifteen minutes, beat it 

 in a mortar until sufficiently mixed with an ounce of salt and 



