A Defense of Fishermen 



ment, or by way of curious specula- 

 tion, it may be interesting to intimate 

 how a variation of a few inches in the 

 exact length or a few ounces in the ex- 

 act weight of a lost fish, as given by 

 the loser, may be accounted for, with- 

 out meanly attributing to him inten- 

 tional falsehood. The theory has been 

 recently started, that a trained hunting 

 dog points a bird in the field solely 

 because the bird's scent creates a hyp- 

 notic influence on the dog, which im- 

 pels him by a sort of suggestion to 

 direct his nose toward the spot from 

 which such scent emanates. If there 

 is anything worth considering in this 

 theory, why may not a struggling fish 

 at the end of a line exert such a hyp- 

 notic influence on the intensely excited 

 and receptive nature at the other ex- 

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