24 SALMON AND TROUT. 



the difficulty of the ' in-and-out' knot fastening. This, it must 

 be admitted, they did very effectually, and I could attach the 

 casting-line to my horizontal loops, even the tiniest sizes, with- 

 out the smallest difficulty or delay. But somehow my satisfac- 

 tion at this result was incomplete ; I could not help feeling that 

 a Jenny Spinner tied on a ooo hook had a disproportionately 

 long head. But, then, was not this only the neck after all? 

 And was there ever a fly without a neck ? Anatomically, if 

 not entomologically, the proposition was undeniable ; and yet, 

 somehow, I could not regard my long-headed diptera with an 

 eye of entire affection. . . . 



At this juncture I happened to stroll into Mr. Farlow's shop, 

 when his representative called my attention to some very 

 delicate and artistic rubber-bodied flies of his dressing, tied on 

 Mr. Hall's turned-up eyed-hooks. I agreed with him cordially 

 as to their manifold attractiveness, yet felt that veracity com- 

 pelled me to add, ' But the difficulty in knotting on the gut to 

 those turned-up eyes, by the river bank, will, I fear, prevent 

 their ever coming into really general use.' 



' Well, sir,' he replied, ' I am not so sure of that. I can 

 show you a way of knotting on the gut that can be done in half 

 a minute, and just as well at the waterside as on this counter.' 



I confess I took no pains to conceal my incredulity. He 

 soon convinced me, however, that he was right ; the knot 

 when attached to a fine turned eye, set at the correct angle, as 

 in my patterns of trout hooks, is simply perfect. His method 

 also of facilitating the tying of it was very effective ; he contrived, 

 by an ingenious though simple expedient, to get the feathers of 

 the fly out of the way of the gut whilst the knot was being made, 

 thus obviating one of the principal difficulties that present them- 

 selvesor rather presented themselves at that time in attach- 

 ing the casting-line to flies with metal loops. This he effected 

 by a sort of shield or ' protector ' made of an oval-shaped piece 

 of thin white leather, or common note-paper, in which, doubled 

 back, the fly was held ; and having a small hole in the centre. 

 Through this hole, before being attached to the gut, the hook- 



