42 REMARKS PRELIMINARY. 



thors. Indeed, I hardly quote another author, 

 as the late ones possess nothing new to me, and 

 the old are hardly at all applicable to our Scotch 

 rivers. 



I conceive it better to make particular mention 

 only of the best standard flies, with the manner of 

 dressing and using them, than to give a detailed 

 description of infinite and inferior varieties. I will, 

 therefore, give only useful directions, divested of all 

 the unnecessary discussions and superfluity of fri- 

 volous anecdotes, which have hitherto tended to 

 swell the bulk of treatises on this subject. Thus 

 will also be avoided all insignificant and endless 

 enumeration and invention of names to flies, which 

 rather tend to bewilder the reader's imagination 

 than prove instructive to the individual desirous of 

 practical information. 



Should the style of language be considered not 

 sufficiently perspicuous, the reader will be lenient 

 when assured that he has got the very best style the 

 writer can possibly afford from thirty shillings' worth 

 of scholastic education. 



