MISCELLANEA. 25 



tude for getting out of order ; but it has two great 

 drawbacks, which exist also and to a still greater 

 extent in the wooden reel, or ' pirn' as it is called in 

 Scotland viz., that when the line is pulled out 

 strongly, either by hand or by a fish, the wheel 

 twists so rapidly as to "over run" itself, thus pro- 

 ducing a sudden check, which at a critical juncture 

 is very likely to cost the loss of the fish and the 

 tackle. It is also, for another reason, very unsafe 

 when playing a fish, as, should the pressure of the 

 hand be for an instant removed from the line, the 

 latter runs out so freely as to produce sudden 

 slackness, an evil perhaps greater even than the 

 other, as nothing is more certainly disastrous than 

 a slack line, and nothing more probable than the 

 occurrence of the contingency referred to when 

 fish have to be followed rapidly over broken 

 ground. These are radical faults vices would not 

 be too strong a term inherent in the principle of 

 all "plain" reels, and inseparable from them. 



They are, however, entirely obviated by the 

 check system ; and check reels should therefore be 

 the only ones ever employed for any kind of 

 heavy fishing, whether with bait or fly. With this 



