CHAP. XVII. THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 201 



bottle from Sir George Hastings to Sir Henry Wotton, 

 (they were both chemical men,) as a great present : it was 

 sent, and received, and used, with great confidence ; and 

 yet, upon inquiry, I found it did not answer the expecta- 

 tion of Sir Henry ; which, with the help of this and other 

 circumstances, makes me have little belief in such things 

 as many men talk of. Not but that I think that fishes both 

 smell and hear, (as I have exprest in my former discourse :) 

 but there is a mysterious knack, which though it be much 

 easier than the philosopher's stone, yet it is not attainable 

 by common capacities, or else lies locked up in the brain 

 or breast of some chemical man, that, like the Rosicru- 

 cians, 1 will not yet reveal it. But let me nevertheless tell 

 you, that camphire, put with moss into your worm-bag 

 with your worms, makes them, (if many anglers be not 

 very much mistaken,) a tempting bait, and the angler 

 more fortunate. But I stepped by chance into this dis- 

 course of oils, and fishes' smelling ; and though there 

 might be more said, both of it and of baits for Roach and 

 Dace and other float-fish, yet I will forbear it at this time, 2 



(1) Vidt infra, Part II. Chap. i. note. The Rosicrusians were a sect of 

 frantic enthusiasts, who sprung up in Germany about the beginning of the 14th 

 century : they professed to teach the art of making gold ; and boasted of a secret, 

 in their power, to protract the period of human life, and even to restore youth. 

 Their founder having been to the Hoi; Land, pretended to have learned all this 

 from the Arabs. They propagated their senseless philosophy by tradition ; and 

 revealed their mysteries only to a chosen few ; and to this practice the author 

 alludes. Lemery, in his book Of Chemist ry, has thus defined their art: "Art 

 tineartc; cvjtts principium mentiri, medium laborare, et finis mendicare." 

 An art without art; whose beginning is lying, whose middle is labour, and whose 

 end is beggary. 



(2) Roach delight in gravelly or sandy bottoms : their haunts, especially as 

 winter approaches, are clear deep and still waters ; and at other times, they lie 

 iu and near the weeds, and under the shade of boughs. 



They spawn about the latter end of May, when they are scabby and unwhole- 

 some : but they are again in order in about three weeks. The largest are taken 

 after Michaelmas; and their prime season is in February or March. 



The Baits Jbr Roach, not already mentioned, are, cad-bait, and oak-worms, 

 for the spring ; in May, ant's-eggs; and paste made of the cramb of a new roll, 

 both white, and tinged with red, which is done by putting vermilion into the 

 water, wherewith you moisten it; this paste will do for the winter also. 



The largest Roach in this kingdom are taken in the Thames, where many have 



