316 Book of the Black Bass. 



CHAPTER XII. 



SILK- WORM GUT. 



" Bui if J'ou can attain to angle with one hair, — you shall have 

 more rises, and catch more fish." — Izaak Waltox. 



The material of which leaders and snells are composed 

 is a m3'steT3- to many anglers. It is eminently fitted for 

 the purposes mentioned, being as nearly invisible as any 

 substance can well be, and at the same time is quite strong 

 and impermeable to water. 



It is really the " fluid silk " of the silk-worm (Bombyx 

 mori), drawn out into a continuous length. This fluid 

 silk, which in its natural state resembles colorless varnish, 

 is contained in two long cylindrical sacs, many times the 

 length of the worm, and which are capable of being un- 

 folded by immersion in water, when the fluid silk can be 

 drawn out into filaments, longer or shorter, coarse or fine, 

 as may be desired. 



Most of the silk-worm gut is produced in Spain, and 

 some in Italy. When the worm is about to spin its cocoon 

 it is killed by being immersed in vinegar, which perhaps 

 has also some effect on the viscid fluid in the sacs. These 

 sacs are then stretched, the fluid being drawn out until 

 the proper length is obtained, when the two ends are wound 

 around pins driven into a frame. Afterward the adhering 

 skin or membrane is stripped off, leaving the gut fibre 

 white and glistening. It is then sorted according to thick- 

 ness and quality and tied in bunches. The various grades 

 are known to the trade by Spanish names. 



It has long been known that from the larvae of several 

 species of our native silk-worm moths, much longer strands 



