FISH CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
on 
to 
I have had very kindly loaned me by Mr. Feuardent, a whole 
collection of bronze hooks, coming from recent discoveries in 
the Swiss lakes, the fishing relics of a pre-historic people. 
As may be seen, when I shall pass these hooks among you 
for examination, you will be surprised to find that the shapes of 
some of them are precisely like those of the hooks of to-day. If 
my memory serves me rightly, there is one large hook, about as 
large as a cod-hook, which resembles exactly in make the Nor- 
wegian hooks I examined at the Centennial Exhibition, save 
that the shank in the pre-historic hook is square. 
The metal employed is bronze. .Of course the presence of 
hooks carries with it the idea of a line made either of hemp or 
flax. The fish of the Swiss lakes were possibly fairly large, if 
we consider the size of the biggest hooks. The Geneva trout 
was, however, hardly bigger than he is to-day, for it is not likely 
that in the brief period of fourthousand years the species varied 
very much. The time between then and now was too brief for 
any possibility of natural selection. 
Dwelling but for an instant on the fact that the largest hook 
resembles the Norwegian ones, the question arises, where did the 
metal come from ? 
From what country did the Lacustrine men derive their 
copper and their tin. Was it from Britain? It is natural to 
suppose that merchandise always follow the shortest route. 
Could bronze have come through from the eastward overland ? 
Archzeologists are prone to think that tin found its way in early 
times into Europe from even far-distant Malacca. Did bronze 
then travel as precious metal from the Indies, slowly making its 
way across the Ural Mountains, passing from hand to hand as 
gold does to-day, until at last it became the prize of some long 
forgotten, lone fisherman, who tried his luck in a Swiss lake? 
The archeological studies lead the student into some very blind 
passes. Now, these Lacustrine people possessed some really 
beautiful tools, jade chisels set into the horns of deer. Now, 
where did the jade come from? There is certainly no jade in 
Europe, save beyond the Ural Mountains, and in farthest China. 
Was there intercourse between China and Switzerland,.and was 
the possessor of a bit of jade ora bronze fish-hook considered as 
