The Minnow as a Lure. 191 



in this respect, nor is the voracity a peculiar 

 endowment of the " great ones " only : it is an 

 attribute of the entire species. The possession of 

 a capacity for receiving gives title sufficient to any 

 usurper, however diminutive, to constitute itself 

 the recipient. Might is right in all cases here, 

 and the only principle that seems to obtain any 

 recognition in the carrying out of "the good old 

 rule, the simple plan," is the selection of the fittest. 

 It is not my province to inveigh against that sad 

 proclivity which prompts one fish to show such 

 distinguishing or extinguishing marks of its 

 regard for another, but rather to point out how the 

 angler may so take advantage of the ravenous 

 instinct as to endanger its possessor and lure it 

 to destruction. Besides swallowing the younger 

 members of its own species, the trout indulges its 

 rapacious propensities at the expense of other 

 representatives of the finny tribe, such as the parr, 

 the loach, and the stickle-back ; but the only victim 

 with which our angler need concern himself at 

 present, as with a legitimate and attractive lure, 

 is the minnow. 



Though, as an art, minnow-fishing may not de- 

 mand that dexterity and nicety in casting, nor that 

 consummate delicacy in handling the rod, which 

 we are prepared to grant to successful fishing with 

 the artificial fly, there can be no question that it 



