56 Fly-rods and Fly-tackle. 



middle of these may be about one-sixteenth of an inch, 

 thence gradually tapering to a point at both ends. The 

 preserved specimens, the only ones I have seen, were 

 translucent, and yellowish in color. 



Seizing this silk sack by the ends, the operator tears 

 it apart, stretching the contents out to the desired length. 

 These harden almost at once on exposure to the air, and 

 the gut thus produced is stretched upon a piece of board 

 to dry. 



This manufacture is carried on mainly in Spain, by 

 the peasantry at their own homes, one producing per- 

 haps half a pound, another possibly fifty, according to 

 the extent of the mulberry orchard the maker may pos- 

 sess. With the remains of the envelope still adhering to 

 the dried gut, it is brought in, and sold to the factors. 



Their first step is to free the gut from such portions 

 of the ruptured envelope as may adhere to it. Former- 

 ly this was done by drawing the gut between the teeth, 

 and thus stripping off this refuse, but chemical processes 

 are said now largely to have superseded this. The eye- 

 witness, to whom I am indebted for this information, de- 

 scribes the old method as a most disgusting spectacle. 

 The rows of women and girls drawing the entrails of 

 this caterpillar through their teeth, their mouths smeared 

 with blood from the cuts inflicted by the thin gut, min- 

 gled with the offal scraped from it by their teeth spit- 

 ting and drawing, and spitting again must indeed be 

 far from a pleasant sight. 



I would much rather go a-fishing. 



The gut is then sorted, bundled, and marketed. We 

 derive our supply largely through England, whence this 

 business is controlled, consuming by far the greater part 

 of the heavier sizes produced. 



