360 ROD AND RIVER 



overlie the sides of the wings. These are 

 termed ' married strips/ by reason of their being 

 arranged so as to adhere to each other. If the 

 edges of these fibres are examined with a 

 magnifying-glass, it will be seen that they are like 

 the teeth of a saw, and so readily cling together 

 when properly held. Thus a strip of swan and a 

 strip of macaw, etc., can be married. I made the 

 remark ' properly held ' because, unless the edges 

 of the fibres are placed together in the right way, 

 they will refuse to adhere to each other. If held 

 by the butts, some difficulty will be experienced ; 

 but if by the points, it becomes an easy matter, and 

 they will retain their position quite as firmly as if 

 they had grown naturally alongside of each other. 

 It is impossible, without steaming them, to induce 

 fibres from feathers of different curves to unite 

 properly throughout their entire length ; therefore 

 all feathers for wings should be as flat as possible. 

 Where they are not naturally so, steaming and 

 pressure must be resorted to. 



It must be remembered that the lie of the 

 fibres of feathers depends entirely on the way in 

 which their butts are tied on ; if the butt is twisted 

 the whole fibre will also become so. The fibres 

 of the feathers which form the wings of salmon- 

 flies must be perfectly flat and true one above the 

 other, and to effect this requires no little practice 

 and dexterity. 



