THE BRITISH ANGLER'S LEXICON. 125 



more so than the needle-pointed hook, which is not so 

 costly. The fourth process is turning the hook to give it 

 the particular bend required. Fifth, the shank is shaped by 

 a hammer, or by the aid of an ingenious machine, to be 

 either ringed, flatted or sharp pointed ; the latter is the 

 usual shape for small trout or salmon flies to be tied to gut. 

 The hook up to the next and sixth process has been in a 

 soft condition, and must now be hardened. This is one of 

 the most particular parts of the manufacture, as the hook 

 must be carefully watched during this process lest it become 

 too hard or not hard enough. The wires are heated in a 

 furnace until they attain a certain appearance, which the 

 skilled workman notices with accuracy. They are with- 

 drawn and plunged into oil ; this converts the hitherto soft 

 hook into a highly brittle condition. The heat required for 

 each style and size of hook is varied. The next and seventh 

 process is equally as particular as the last ; that is the 

 tempering, and the angler knows to his cost sometimes 

 the difference between a hook perfectly tempered and one 

 not. If the hook is not right, it will either draw out when 

 playing a fish until it is as straight as it was when first cut 

 with the shears, or will break off above the barb, and in 

 both cases the fish is lost. The tempering is done by with- 

 drawing the brittle hooks from the oil, heating them in a 

 pan over a charcoal fire, having them mixed up with heated 

 emery sand, and this mixture of hooks and sand kept in 

 constant motion. Every now and then a hook is picked 

 out, and the temper gauged according to the experienced 

 knowledge of the skilled operative. Then the eighth 

 process is scouring, by placing the hooks in barrels, with 

 water, and keeping these barrels in motion for several days 

 by steam power until all scale which may have been on 



