OLD-FASHIONED ANGLING 



Angling is, I think, one of the most popular of 

 British field sports ; certainly, for one book written 

 about any other kind, there must be half-a-dozen 

 on the subject of fishing. I met lately with a most 

 amusing old book on the " Art of Angling," published 

 in 1801 ; and illustrated with very quaint old wood 

 engravings of both fresh and sea water fish. It 

 commences with a long anatomical and physiological 

 description of fish, giving an account of their habits, 

 method of feeding, &c. For this last the author 

 draws considerably on his own imagination. For 

 instance, he declares that mussels and oysters open 

 their shells for the purpose of catching crabs, clos- 

 ing them when one creeps in, and thus securing 

 their prey. The oyster also is declared to change 

 sides with each tide, lying with the flat shell upper- 

 most one time, and the convex the next. After 

 this the author goes regularly through the alpha- 

 bet, treating everything connected with fresh- water 

 angling under its respective initial letter. 



I suppose that at this time there were few, if 



