Leaders. 95 



land and Scotland by redrawing imported gut. This 

 impairs the strength, and renders the gut prone to fray 

 and become ragged ; but at the same time it takes dye 

 much better and with a much more lustreless surface, a 

 feature of great value. Still, its excessive thinness is 

 unsuited to most of the requirements of the American 

 angler. 



That the hope of 1884, hereinbefore expressed, should 

 in 1900 be still but a hope will doubtless appear to some 

 strong confirmation of Mr. Imbrie's view, that "the 

 numerous and invariable failures to produce a good qual- 

 ity of it outside of Murcia force the conclusion that 

 there are unique conditions favorable to its manufacture 

 there, and insurmountable objections to its manufacture 

 elsewhere." Further, I must admit that the some half- 

 dozen attempts to make good gut from our native silk- 

 worms which have come to my knowledge since the 

 subject was discussed in my first edition, have been in 

 every case abortive. The resulting product was invari- 

 ably fatally deficient in strength. 



Yet I believe no scientific man accustomed to original 

 investigation and experiment, who considered what has 

 been done and what is desired to be done in this matter, 

 would find therein just cause even for discouragement. 

 That what has been done can be done again, would suffi- 

 ciently answer every doubt. There can be no more doubt 

 that long, strong, and in every way serviceable gut has 

 been drawn from our native silk-worms, than that pow 

 der was burned at the battle of Bunker Hill. To ques- 

 tion the truth of facts vouched for as of their own per- 

 sonal doing by such men as Drs. Garlick and Sterling 

 is the very lunacy of scepticism. There is other and in- 

 dependent testimony to the same effect, as, for example, 



