IMITATION, REPRESENTATION, SUGGESTION 77 



the natural fly must be " imitated " — and then they are 

 quite likely to teach you how to dress a straddlebug or 

 a palmer — and it is more than probable that in most cases 

 by imitation they mean " representation " or " suggestion." 

 Even those distinctions are insufficient. Imitation may 

 mean imitation of life, of activity, of colour, and size. It 

 may be obtained by transmitted or reflected light where the 

 colour of the natural fly is reflected or transmitted. And 

 these things are equally true of the artificial fly that is a 

 representation or a suggestion of the natural fly. 



Ill 



IMITATION, REPRESENTATION, SUGGESTION 



It is a common and a just observation that the best 

 artificial fly bears but a poor resemblance to the natural fly 

 which it is supposed to stand for. But, for all that, arti- 

 ficial flies dressed to imitate, to represent, or to suggest 

 natural flies do take trout, and take them in such conditions 

 that no unprejudiced angler can doubt that they take 

 them for their natural prototypes. This suggests defective 

 vision on the part of the trout, and this question of vision 

 and the nature and extent of the defect are examined else- 

 where. At this stage it is sufficient to indicate the distinc- 

 tion to be drawn between artificial flies which are imita- 

 tions, representations, and suggestions respectively of the 

 natural insect. 



Where, as for instance in the case of the Olive Quill 

 or the Iron-blue dun, a determined effort is made to re- 

 produce the natural insect in colour, shape, and attitude, 

 the artificial fly may be called an imitation. It is of little 

 consequence whether the effect be got by reflected or 

 transmitted light. A less ambitious effort may be called 



