FISHING 41 



Whether ordinary horsehair or the gut of 

 the silkworm provides the best material for 

 those " casts " or " traces " (as they are some- 

 times called), upon which the angler must to 

 so great an extent rely for any success that he 

 may achieve with rod and line, is a mere matter 

 of individual taste. Some experts hold one 

 view, while others (equally worthy, honourable, 

 and scrupulous men) feel bound to maintain 

 a totally opposite opinion. I am personally 

 inclined to support both parties; for although 

 the product of the silkworm may be as hyaline 

 and glabrous as any equine capillament, the 

 latter may possess those sequaceous properties 

 which counterbalance the natural lubricity that 

 characterizes the former, and vice versa. But 

 whichever form of material it is decided to make 

 use of, the absolute necessity of exercising the 

 greatest care and caution in its selection cannot 

 be too strongly urged. If horsehair be chosen, 

 it should be obtained from the tails of those 

 massive steeds which are commonly harnessed 

 to brewers' drays, and not on any account from 

 cavalry chargers, pit-ponies, or the emaciated 

 crocks that still languish obscurely between the 

 shafts of our obsolete hansom-cabs. 



An excellent brand of horsehair is that which 

 is supplied for surgical purposes, to stitch up 

 wounds and so forth. In my youth I often 



