60 The Atlantic Salmon 



become perfectly dry by exposure to the air if 

 under cover. Lines should be tested before 

 going into use at the beginning of the season, 

 and frequently during use in the parts of them 

 exposed to the water. 



Casting Lines or Leaders 



Every one knows that these useful and in 

 many cases indispensable parts of the angler's 

 outfit are made from the silkworm, though not, 

 as many suppose, from the entrails of this 

 creature. The gut is in reality the unspun silk 

 of the worm, which, instead of being allowed to 

 be used for a cocoon, is taken from the insect 

 prematurely. The worms are selected just 

 before they are about to begin spinning, which 

 is known by the attendants from certain signs 

 in the caterpillar the cessation of feeding, and 

 the appearance at the mouth of a small filament 

 of silk. Mr. H. P. Wells in his book on " Fly 

 Rods and Fly Tackle" describes at length the 

 operation of obtaining the gut, from which I 

 condense the following: When the worms are 

 ready to spin they are immersed in a pickle of 

 vinegar and water for several hours. They are 

 then removed, seized at each end, and forcibly 



