272 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



looked at them, and find that the longest yet remaining is twenty- 

 three and a half inches ; a good, clear thread ; one of the lightest 

 of the lot. 



About as long ago as I can remember there was an article sold 

 ca]led sea-weed, which was used by fly-fishers. It was from three 

 to four feet in length, round, smooth, and tapered from the root 

 to the point, but was not reliable as to its strength. I have not 

 seen any of it for nearly fifty years past. 



The long and heavy gut to which Mr. Gray alludes, is, 

 possibly, the product of one of our native silk-worms, as 

 Dr. T. Garlick, of Bedford, Ohio, one of the fathers of 

 pisciculture in the United States, states that he has drawn 

 silk gut from four to six feet long, sufficiently strong for 

 Salmon fishing, from the larva of the Atticus cecropia, the 

 largest of our native silk-worms. 



Dr. Garlick describes the process, in the Forest and 

 Stream, as follows: 



I have drawn silk gut not only from the Atticus cecropia and A. 

 prometheus, but also from the Italian silk-worm. I have never killed 

 the worm, nor put it in vinegar for this purpose, which may be the 

 best method. Soon after the larva ceases to feed he begins to spin 

 his cocoon, which is the right time to draw the silk gut. I pin the 

 worm to a board, putting one pin in his caudal extremity, and 

 another pin about one-third of his length back from his head. I 

 then, with a sharp knife, cut off the forepart of the worm far 

 enough back to cut off a very little of the sac containing the silk, 

 which is a fluid of about the consistency of the white of an egg. I 

 then take a large pin, and dipping it into the fluid silk, which 

 adheres to the pin, I draw out the silk slowly (the more slowly the 

 larger will be the gut), until I have drawn out all, or nearly all, of 

 the silk contained in the sacs. I then take another pin, and attach 

 it to the other extremity of the gut, at the point where I divided 

 the worm. The two pins are then stuck into a board, drawing the 

 gut taut, which soon becomes hard and fit for use. The fluid silk 



