26 
HOOKS . 
The most common Hook in use in this country is the 
u Kirby , ” which the reader will perceive is not included in 
either of the plates, for the reason, that until a few years 
since, it has been the only kind in use, and consequently 
its shape and construction are well known to every sports- 
man. The sizes and numbers are similar to the “ Lim- 
erick,” so that a person wishing to procure a Kirby Hook, 
can do so by giving the number of the Limerick pattern. 
These hooks derive their name from one Kirby, who first 
made them, according to instructions given him by Prince 
Rupert, a member of the Royal Society of London. They 
vary materially in shape, being more or less kirb'd * or bent; 
high or low in the point ; with long or short shanks, some 
marked, and others flatted. Those with flatted shanks are 
used in taking salt water fish only — such as black-fish, por- 
gies, eels, flounders, &c., where a hemp line is attached. 
Those with marked or indented shanks are tied to gut, hair, 
or other light materials, and are used in all kinds of fresh 
water fishing. There are many cheap hooks of the Kirby 
description, imported and sold in this country.f Within a 
few years, an inferior quality, made in Germany, has been 
sold at cheap rates and in large quantities to the country 
trade. Hooks of this latter quality may always be tested (as 
in fact may any hook) by merely sticking the barb into a pine 
board and pulling moderately ; it will be found as brittle as 
glass. It may not be improper to state here, that one of the 
reasons why the Kirby hook has gone into comparative dis- 
use, is because the Limerick, for fine fishing, is far superior, 
and has consequently superseded them ; although the former, 
* A phrase denoting the peculiarity in all Kirby hooks, derivod from 
the name of the inventor. 
t There aro many goods imported, and labelled “ manufactured ex- 
pressly for the American market ,” which are absolutely unfit for any 
market 
