AND MATERIALS FOR DRESSING IT 189 
In the Bibl. Pisce. : 
“Round the hook they twist scarlet wool, and two wings 
are secured on this wool from the feathers which grow under 
the wattles of a cock, brought up to the proper colour with 
wax.” 
In Lambert : 
“They fasten red wool round a hook and fit on the wool 
two feathers which grow under a cock’s wattles, and which in 
colour are like wax.” 
It is asserted in the Bibl. Pisc. that the whole passage is 
therein “for the first time, accurately, translated,’”’ but this 
proud boast must take a back seat, for Mr. Lambert trans- 
lates with far nearer accuracy. One grave error springs from 
mistranslation in the former of zpocexKaopéva as ‘“ brought 
up to,” instead of “like,” a meaning very common in Greek 
writers of the second and third century. 
But, apart from the question which of the two be the 
better rendering, no doubt whatever can exist which of the 
flies described would be found the better, if not the only, 
killer. Application of wax to the hackles of a cock would 
certainly cause the fibre to stick together, entirely destroy 
their free play in the water, and render them useless as wings. 
This passage, ever since its rediscovery by Oliver in 1834, 
has been acclaimed by most writers on Fishing as (A) being 
the first instance in literature, or for that matter in art, of the 
Artificial Fly, and as (B) ascribing to the Macedonians the 
credit of a “ new invention ” in Angling. 
It is undoubtedly the first and only express mention of a 
specially made-up Artificial Fly down to 500 A.D., and probably 
even down to Dame Juliana’s Book (c. 1500). But I suggest 
and believe that this passage is intended, not as a description 
of a “new invention,” or of a striking departure from old 
methods ot Angling. It merely instances the Macedonian’s 
adaptability to his environment, and his imitative skill in 
dressing from his wools and feathers a fly to resemble as closely 
as possible the natural fly on which the fish were feeding, a 
practice very common among anglers of the present day. 
So far from the Artificial Fly being a “‘ new invention,” it 
