REELS. 65 



where about doubles it (?). The doubled leverage will tell, from 

 the first putting together of the rod until the gaffing of the 

 last fish of the day gives the wearied muscles of the right arm 

 and back a not unwelcome respite. 



The last point is the check mechanism^ shown in drawing, 

 fig. 2, which ought to be simple, and at the same time easily 

 accessible — accessible, that is, without any ' taking to pieces ' 

 of the reel. In my ' combined reel ' the check machinery is 

 merely covered by a hinged lid (a, b, c), sufficiently close- 

 fitting to be practically water-tight, while admitting of being 

 opened at once by giving the catch, c, a turn with the point of 

 a knife -blade. 



The first time I recollect noticing a similar form of check- 

 cover was on a reel made, I believe, by Bernard & Son, for 

 my friend Mr. F. T. Corrance. This was a light reel with one 

 side ebonite, and intended principally for boat work in Norway. 



It will thus be seen that for whatever merits the combined 

 reel may possess I can personally claim very little credit — but 

 if the outcome of the combination produces any approach to 

 an 'ideal salmon reel,' it matters little to fishermen from 

 whose hands they receive it. 



The weight of this reel, 4^ inches, is i lb. 6 oz. ; and that 

 of a ' best London-made reel ' of the same diameter, of one or 

 other of the similar patterns already noticed, somewhere about 

 I lb. 13 oz.— or 7 oz. more. 



The reel is registered and manufactured by Messrs. Farlow. 



Messrs. Hardy's reel is very much lighter than the ' London- 

 made ' reel, and not quite so light as my pattern. There is (on 

 a 4^ -inch reel) a difference apparently of 3 oz. in favour of the 

 former, but it is not so in reality owing to the difference in the 

 width of the groove in the two patterns. In Hardy's reel it is 

 \^ inch, and in mine i^ inch, the result being that a 

 4-inch reel of my pattern will carry the same amount of line 

 as Hardy's 4|-inch. 



It must be admitted, however — all questions of comparative 

 weight apart— that Messrs. Hardy's 'revolving-plate reels 'are 



I. F 



