APPENDIX 271 



out at length in his latest book, Animal Life under 

 Water, 1919. Various steps in the progress of his 

 investigations as to the appearance of flies, etc., to 

 the eye of a fish, were described by him in The Field 

 during 1912 and 1913, with illustrations, but the sum 

 and substance of it all may be found in the book. 



Much of the investigation was directed to the 

 appearance of the trout-fisher's floating flies, which 

 hardly concerns us in the consideration of salmon, 

 though salmon have occasionally been caught on 

 dry flies, and indeed the late Major J. R. Fraser of 

 Romsey used to make a practice of dry-fly fishing 

 for them, using patterns which were a sort of cross 

 between small salmon flies and Mayflies. But I do 

 not think that dry-fly fishing is ever likely to be- 

 come a popular method of tempting salmon. I 

 have tried it on various occasions without the least 

 result. 



Everything, however, that Dr. Ward has revealed 

 in regard to the appearance of objects below the 

 surface of the water is of great importance for 

 salmon fishers. He shows that what is most to be 

 considered in a moving lure is " flash," that is to 

 say, the intermittent gleam from its bright surface 

 or points as it catches and reflects the light. That 

 enhances the value of tinsel, though feathers will 

 also reflect the light to a considerable extent too, 

 especially such feathers as those of the jungle cock, 

 which are so much used as cheeks. The chief use of 

 feathers apart from their reflecting power is their 

 movement, which gives to the fly an appearance of 

 life. 



