IMITATION OF THE NATURAL INSECT 139 



calling upon the writings of Bainbridge, Best, 

 Taylor, Davy, Ronalds, and others in support 

 of their opinions, concluding with the state- 

 ment that "they flattered themselves that they 

 had triumphantly done so." It seems to me 

 that, though they argued with vigour and 

 vehemence, they have proven nothing, conclu- 

 sively, except their ability to place a construction 

 upon the professor's statements that afforded 

 them an opportunity for the discussion. A care- 

 ful reading of Rennie shows that he merely ex- 

 pressed the opinion that the greatest efforts of 

 the angler should be to make his fly one that 

 would attract the notice of the fish by its form 

 and colour, rather than to imitate any particular 

 species of fly. To be sure, we have no knowledge 

 of what his ideas with regard to form and colour 

 were; we may assume, however, that he believed 

 that if a red fly four inches long with yellow and 

 blue wings and a green tail would attract the fish, 

 such would be the fly to use. The illustration is 

 absurd, of course; but we have a right to infer 

 that his belief was that any form or colour which 

 would attract the fish would do. He advanced 

 the theory that the trout took the artificial be- 

 cause they were near-sighted; apparently he 

 did not believe that they took it because they 

 were colour-blind. 



