142 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [PART L 



box in which he put those worms was anointed with a drop, 

 or two or three, of the oil of ivy-berries, made by expression or 

 infusion ; and told, that by the worms remaining in that box 

 an hour, or a like time, they had incorporated a kind of smell 

 that was irresistibly attractive, enough to force any fish within 

 the smell of them to bite. This I heard not long since from a 

 friend, but have not tried it ; yet I grant it probable, and refer 

 my reader to Sir Francis Bacon's "Natural History," where 

 he proves fishes may hear, and, doubtless, can more probably 

 smell ; and I am certain Gesner says the Otter can smell in the 

 water, and I know not but that fish may do so too. 'T is left 

 for a lover of angling, or any that desires to improve that art, 

 to try this conclusion. 



I shall also impart two other experiments, but not tried by 

 myself, which I will deliver in the same words that they were 

 given me by an excellent angler and a very friend, in writing : 

 he told me the latter was too good to be told, but in a learned 

 language, lest it should be made common. 



"Take the stinking oil drawn out of Polypody of the oak 

 by a retort, mixed with turpentine and hive-honey, and 

 anoint your bait therewith, and it will doubtless draw the fish 

 to it." 



The other is this: " Vulnera Hederae grandissimae inflicta 

 sudant Balsamun oleo gelato, albicantique persimile, odoris 

 vero longe suavissimi." 



'T is supremely sweet to any fish, and yet assafoetida may do 

 the like. 



But in these things I have no great faith, yet grant it proba- 

 ble ; and have had from some chemical men, namely, from Sir 

 George Hastings and others, an affirmation of them to be 

 very advantageous : but no more of these, especially not in 

 this place. 



I might here, before I take my leave of the Salmon, tell you, 

 that there is more than one sort of them, as namely, a Tecon, 

 and another called in some places a Samlet, or by some, a 



