Ill 



pitilessly hard, long, leather "jack-boot" was almost the only 

 appliance in vogue. There is the leather-footed, leather-legged, 

 india-rubber coated boot, delightful to wear and fascinating to 

 handle, which never hardens at any rate to the ' impossi- 

 ble"' or ' agony ' point and is perfectly waterproof as long 

 as 'foot and stocking' hold together. Then we have the 

 ' wading stocking,' properly so-called, light and easily transport- 

 able, a shade less absolutely waterproof perhaps, but yet quite 

 sufficiently impermeable for all practical purposes ; and following 

 after wading stockings, and as a sort of natural corollary, we 

 come to wading ' trousers,' so commonly patronised by salmon- 

 fishers, and without which, indeed, many of the best casts on our 

 rivers would be simply ' unfishable ' unless under the penalty of a 

 liberal impoitation of the element which is the prime object of 

 waders to exclude; lastly we have Messrs. Cording, of 125, Regent 

 Street, inventing a 'life belt' wading-trouser, which fulfils not 

 only the waterproof conditions, but also ensures the incautious 

 wader a practical immunity from the chances of being drowned. 

 The appearance and arrangement of these belted members of 

 the Royal Humane Society are shown in the cut, which Messrs. 

 Cording have had engraved at my suggestion, so that further 

 verbal description is unnecessary. 



Equipped with these I believe the inconvenient possibilities 

 hinted at are reduced to a vanishing point, whilst the weight 

 added by the air belt is inappreciable. 



As all waterproof garments are liable to become more or less 

 damp from repressed perspiration, they should invariably be 

 dried after use, as well to prevent the linings, and, indeed, the 

 rubber itself, becoming rotten, as for purposes of health and 

 comfort. The best way of drying is to fill the legs and feet of the 

 boots, stockings, or trousers, with warm bran, oats, or barley, 

 which should be shaken out as soon as it begins to cool [if this pre- 



