THE OTTER-TRAWL. 277 



great width. There being no beam to this trawl, it is very 

 convenient for use in yachts, as it can be stowed away in a 

 comparatively small space when not wanted, but pro- 

 fessional trawlers cannot be induced to work with anything 

 but the beam-trawl. Each has its advantages, but it may 

 be a question whether our deep-sea trawlers would do 

 better, or as well, with the otterrtrawl as with the one to 

 which they have been .always accustomed. A net of just the 

 same shape and construction is, we believe, still in use on 

 some parts of the Irish coast, but it has no otter-boards, 

 and the wings of the net are kept apart by the ropes from 

 them leading each through a block at the end of a pole 

 which is put out on each side of the trawling vessel. The 

 end of each wing is kept upright by being fastened to a 

 contrivance very much like a long double-headed hammer, 

 the head being a long stout piece of flattened iron like 

 the shoe of an otter-board, and with a stiff piece of wood 

 like the handle of a hammer inserted into the middle of the 

 iron, thus completing what we have called a long double- 

 headed hammer. The top of the end of the wing of 

 netting is fastened to the top of the handle, and the lower 

 edge of the wing to one end of the iron shoe or hammer- 

 head. The tow-rope or bridle from each wing is fastened 

 to a loop extending from the front of the hammer to the 

 top of the handle, so that when the trawl is at work, the 

 hammers slide along over the ground with the handle 

 standing upright in the middle. This trawl is known as 

 the " Pole or Hammer " trawl, and the application of otter- 

 boards to a trawl of this construction must be considered a 

 decided improvement. A simple, but cumbrous and 

 primitive mode of working the deep-sea trawl is that 

 adopted on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of 

 Spain, where, instead of using the beam to keep the mouth 



