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CHAPTER XL 



SALMON-FISHING. 



" And mighty hearts are held in slender chains ! " 



Rape of the Lock. 



rflHIS lordly fish deserves a volume to itself. 

 Though it has been treated in greater or less 

 detail by many writers on angling, no work exclu- 

 sively devoted to its claims 1 has appeared among us 

 since "Ephemera" wrote his 'Book of the Salmon.' 

 That is well-nigh forty years ago. Since then great 

 advances have been made in our knowledge of the 

 natural history of the fish ; pisciculturists have im- 

 proved the means for its almost limitless artificial 

 propagation ; and the Legislature, with a fuller re- 

 cognition of its immense economic value, has now 

 and again come to its aid with measures for its 



1 From an angling point of view. The volumes of Mr Russel 

 and others deal chiefly with its natural history and commercial 

 importance. 



