74 UP AND DOWN THE BROOKS. 



as the Druids were wont to use when they, in or- 

 der to accustom themselves to curbing their appe- 

 tites, would have a banquet prepared, and would 

 survey the feast for some time. Then, their firm- 

 ness having been sufficiently tried, they all with- 

 drew without having eaten a morsel. Water- 

 tigers never would think of such abstinence, and 

 you shall find in their homes as many relics of 

 dead and gone beings as the churches of Europe 

 contained in the days when Geneva showed a 

 piece of pumice as the brain of the apostle Peter, 

 and a bone of a deer as the arm of St. Anthony, 

 and when other places contained the hair of the 

 Virgin, the tooth of John the Baptist, the shoul- 

 der-blade of Simeon, and a lip of one of the Inno- 

 cents. 



Perhaps, for the benefit of those who might 

 wish to go dredging themselves, I should describe 

 the implement with which I catch water-creatures. 

 There is no need of spending a cent on apparatus 

 for catching such insects. My dredger is of my 

 own manufacture and consists of a strong, round, 

 iron hoop that was probably once on a keg or 

 something of the sort. To this hoop I have fas- 

 tened a strainer consisting of apiece of an old cal- 

 ico apron. Occasionally the calico tears, but it is 

 easily mended and is better than mosquito-bar be- 

 cause that will be likely to let small Iarva3 escape 

 through the meshes. The handle of the dredger 

 is an old round stick about a yard long. I think 



