70 SCENTED BAITS. 



by mashing up a lot of worms into a pulp, adding there- 

 to a little gin, and dipping the bait into this mess, the 

 angler might take his stand on any river-side, and be- 

 come the centre of attraction to all the fish about. Now, 

 although I may incur the risk of being laughed at, I 

 boldly declare, that I do not regard the above as an 

 altogether nonsensical idea, if the gin be left out of the 

 medicament ; as all fish that I have ever come in con- 

 tact with were most rigid water-totallers, and regarded 

 strong drinks of every description with as wholesome 

 a horror, as the most straight-laced, sour-souled, dis- 

 ciple of Father Mathew could wish. It is plain that a 

 powerful taint of the worm would thus be conferred on 

 the bait ; and it is not at all improbable, from the evi- 

 dence we have before us of the influence of smell on fish, 

 that they may be by such means readily attracted to- 

 wards it. And I shall moreover suggest, that if an 

 angler take his stand on a quiet part of a river, where 

 the water is moderately deep* and the current not too 

 strong, he may find that a bag of worms sunk to the 

 bottom of the water, immediately above where his bait 

 is cast in, will shortly be the means of attracting to the 

 spot many fish, and especially eels. I have little doubt 

 but what the many mythical and wonderful stories, of 

 certain cunning old practitioners being able to capture 

 whole cart-loads of trout at pleasure (when other 

 professors of the art could get none), by means of 

 some mysterious charm, have their origin in some such 

 plan ; which is much more feasible than the virtues of 

 any chemical drug. 



