THE BASSES: FRES H-W ATER AND MARINE 



" It was n't the tackle, Mendy, that failed to 

 hold Doc's fish; it was the fish's lip. Moreover, 

 I never caught twenty-three bass, each weighing 

 two pounds, on a single fly in a forenoon's fish, as 

 you did at Perkiomen; but I will wager our man's 

 wages for a month against a nine-foot leader, that 

 my bunchy palmers, the tail one particularly, which 

 leaves a wake behind it like that of a stern- wheel 

 steamer, will catch more bass in a given time than 

 that simple spider fly you brag about." 



" The bet is taken and Saturday next the day," 

 cried, Mendy; and our anglers at last went to work 

 down stream, whipping the choicest spots of the 

 most beautiful bass river of America. 



The subject of the mental and emotional ca- 

 pacity of fishes is the cause of much curious 

 speculation among angling naturalists, who do not 

 willingly consent that fishes should be placed upon 

 a plane of intelligence below that of insects. 



The belief that fishes possess qualities which reach 

 a standard beyond the instinct of self-preservation 

 has recently gained in strength and interest, owing 

 to the increased facilities that fish-culture has given 

 us for observing their habits. Seth Green, the 

 Nestor of fish-culture in America, believed that 

 fish can talk to each other, and the idea is by no 

 means an extravagant one. 



It is conceded, by naturalists that certain insects 



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