SILK-WORM GUT, LEADERS, &C. 



31 



where the current is strong or water muddy, a larger float 

 may be used without inconvenience. 



For bass, pickerell, or salmon, there are two kinds of 

 floats employed, the cork, and that made of hollow red cedar, 

 which are made of different sizes, varying from three to eight 

 inches in length, and of neat proportions. Those of red cedar 

 are very light, and much preferred in angling for bass and 

 weak-fish, in the vicinity of New-York. 



SILK-WORM GUT, LEADERS, &c. 



This extraordinary substance is comparatively little 

 known, except among dealers and scientific anglers. It is 

 manufactured in large quantities in Spam, and sent thence to 

 London, Edinburgh, and the United States.* It is a source 

 of much surprise, and by many viewed as incredible, that this 

 gut is taken from the silk-worm, at the time when it is about 

 to spin. The size of the gut varies according to the capacity 

 of the worm, some strands being as small as a fine hair, while 

 others are as thick as the 1-32 part of an inch. It is a beauti- 

 ful, semi-transparent substance, and is in strands of from 

 twelve to twenty inches in length, but usually not exceeding 

 fifteen inches. When used by the Angler, it becomes quite 

 soft and pliable, but at the same time extremely strong and 

 durable. It is almost imperceptible in the water, and if of 



* Inferior qualities of this article arc manufactured in China and Italy, 

 but the best is imported from Alioant, in Spain. No mention is made 

 of its ever having been successfully manufactured in any other country 

 Mr. Durand, of Jersey-City, opposite New-York, succeeded in making 

 some a few years ago, but the strands were entirely too short to be use- 

 ful to the Angler. Latterly, however, an enterprising American in the 

 same neighborhood, has had still better success, and produced some al- 

 most equal to the Spanish. He is still experimenting, and will no doubt 

 succeed to his entire satisfaction. 



