28 SALMON AND TROUT. 
at the end of the line: it is too thick, or too thin ; 
too dark, or too light. From this results a linear 
disfigurement, or an inharmoniousness of tint (or 
both), at the very point where a perfect taper and 
complete uniformity of colour are of vital con- 
sequence. 
These are some of the most salient defects of the system, 
almost universally adopted until the last few years, of lapping 
on hooks and flies to separate strands of gut. Of minor, but 
still serious drawbacks, must be reckoned the difficulty of 
carrying about a sufficient supply of ‘gut hooks ’—or still more 
of flies—of all needful sizes, and the destructive effects of time 
upon the contents of the ‘store box.’ Apart from ‘moth,’ this 
happens partly owing to the ‘rotting’ of the gut at the point 
of contact with the steel hook shank, and partly to the desicca- 
tion (drying up) of the wax on the lapping by which the gut is 
attached. 
And all these defects—defects inherent in the principle of 
lapped-on hooks, and which cannot be gainsaid—are at once 
overcome by the new eyed-hook system. 
It is to that system, then, to which I refer when I say that 
by it a/7 the disadvantages attaching either to the artificial fly 
or plain hook lapped on separate strands of gut are entirely got 
rid of. 
By knotting on the fly or hook direct to the main line 
(‘gut-trace,’ ‘collar,’ ‘casting-line,’ ‘bottom-line,’ ‘foot-line’) 
the fly or hook that has become worn at the head can be 
removed, and in a few seconds re-attached to the same already 
well-soaked, well-tapered, and evenly tinted line ; thereafter 
remaining as serviceable as ever. 
The minor drawbacks alluded to of the old system are also 
obviated by the new, as the necessary selection of flies and 
hooks can be kept in stock for years without any fear of 
deterioration. The economy in the matter of space, both in 
the stock-box and fly-book, is, moreover, considerable. As 
