as in the horns of sheep or deer; or some of dead flesh, as the maggot or gentle,' and others.

Now these be most of them particularly good for particular fishes. But for the trout-the dew-worm, which some also call the lob-worm, and the brandling, are the chief, and especially the first for a great trout; and the latter for a less. There be also, of lob-worms, some called squirrel-tails; a worm that has a red head, a streak down the back, and a broad tail; which are noted to be the best, because they are the toughest and most lively, and live longest in the water -for you are to know that a dead worm is but a dead bait, and like to catch nothing, compared to a lively quick stirring worm. And for a brandling: he is usually found in an old dunghill, or some very rotten place near to it-but most usually in cow-dung, or hog's-dung, rather than horsedung which is somewhat too hot and dry for that worm. But the best of them are to be found in the bark of the tanners; which they cast up in heaps, after they have used it about their leather.

There are also divers other kinds of worms, which, for colour and shape, alter even as the ground out of which they are got; as the marsh-worm, the tag-tail, the flag-worm, the dock-worm, the oak-worm, the gilt-tail, the twachel or lobworm, which of all others is the most excellent bait for a

1 Gentles may be procured from a sheep's liver exposed to the sun for several days, and so hung up that the gentles may drop into a pan of sawdust placed beneath. They should then be kept in dry sand and bran mixed, where they may be cool, or they will turn into the chrysalis state. They are most useful in spring, and may be carried to the water in a box, of wood, not tin.-H.

2 You fish in this way as with a fly at top-water, casting your worm gently up against the stream. 'Tis an excellent method and kills incredibly. A caddis is likewise a sure killing bait, fished with quite at ground.-BROwne.

3 To avoid confusion, it may be necessary to remark, that the same kind of worm is, in different places, known by different names: thus the marsh and the meadow-worm are the same (found in meadows under cow-dung); the lob-worm, twachel, or dew-worm, is our common garden-worm; and the dock-worm is, in some places, called the flag-worm. The tag-tail (which is bright red and very lively) is found in March and April, in marled lands, or meadows, after a shower of rain; or in a morning, when the weather is calm, and not cold. To find the oak-worm,-beat on an oak-tree that grows over a highway, or bare place; and they will fall for you to gather. To find the dock-worm, go to an old pond, or pit, and

salmon-and too many to name, even as many sorts as some

But tell

think there be of several herbs or shrubs, or of several kinds of birds in the air; of which I shall say no more. you, that what worms soever you fish with, are the better for being well scoured, that is, long kept before they be used; and in case you have not been so provident, then, the way to cleanse and scour them quickly, is to put them all night in water, if they be lob-worms, and then put them into your bag with fennel; but you must not put your brandlings above pull up some of the flags; shake the roots in the water; and amongst the fibres that grow from the roots, you will find little husks or cases, of a reddish or yellowish colour: open these carefully with a pin, and take from thence a little worm,-pale and yellow, or white,-like a gentle, but longer and slenderer, with rows of feet down his belly, and a red head: this is the dock, or flag-worm, or caddis, an excellent bait for grayling, tench, bream, carp, roach, and dace.-H.

an hour in water, and then put them into fennel, for sudden use; but if you have time, and purpose to keep them long, then they be best preserved in an earthen pot, with good store of moss, which is to be fresh every three or four days in summer, and every week or eight days in winter, or, at least, the moss taken from them, and clean washed, and wrung betwixt your hands till it be dry, and then put it to them again. And when your worms, especially the brandling, begins to be sick and lose of his bigness, then you may recover him, by putting a little milk or cream, about a spoonful in a day, into them, by drops on the moss; and if there be added to the cream an egg beaten and boiled in it, then it will both fatten and preserve them long.' And note, that when the knot, which is near to the middle of the brandling, begins to swell, then he is sick; and, if he be not well looked to, is near dying. And for moss, you are to note, that there be divers kinds of it, which I could name to you; but will only tell you, that that which is likest a buck's horn is the best, except it be soft white moss, which grows on some heaths, and is hard to be found. And note, that, in a very dry time, when you are put to an extremity for worms, walnut-tree leaves squeezed into water, or salt in water, to make it bitter, or salt, and then that water poured on the ground where, you shall see, worms are used to rise in the night, will make them to appear above ground presently.3

1 The following is also an excellent way. Take a piece of hopsack, or other very coarse cloth, wash it clean, and let it dry; then wet it in the liquor wherein beef has been boiled, (but be careful that the beef is fresh, for salt will kill the worms) and wring it, but not quite dry; put the worms into this cloth, and lay them in an earthen pot, and let them stand from morning till night,-then take the worms from the cloth and wash it, and wet it again in some of the liquor; do thus once a day, and you may keep worms in perfect health, and fit for use, for near a month. Observe that the lob-worm, marsh-worm, and red-worm, will bear more scouring than any others, and are better for long keeping.-H. 2 Naturalists reckon above two hundred.-ED.

3 This practice was one of the common sports of school-boys, at the time Erasmus wrote his "Colloquies." In that entitled "Venatio," or "Hunting,' -a company of them go abroad into the fields, and one named Laurence proposes fishing; but having no worms, Bartholus objects the want of them, till Laurence tells him how he may get some. The dialogue is very natural and descriptive, and being but short, is here given-"Lau. I should like to go a-fishing; I have a neat hook. Barth. But where will you get baits ?

And you may take notice, some say that camphire put into your bag with your moss and worms, gives them a strong and so tempting a smell, that the fish fare the worse, and you the better for it.'

And now I shall show you how to bait your hook with a worm, so as shall prevent you from much trouble, and the loss of many a hook too, when you fish for a trout with a running line; that is to say, when you fish for him by hand at the ground. I will direct you in this as plainly as I can, that you may not mistake.

2

Suppose it be a big lob-worm: put your hook into him

Lau. There are earth-worms everywhere to be had. Barth. So there are, if they would but creep out of the ground to you. Lau. I will make a great many thousands jump out presently. Barth. How? by witchcraft? Lau. You shall see the art. Fill this bucket with water: break these green shells of walnuts to pieces, and put them into it; wet the ground with the water: now mind a little; do you see them coming out? Barth. I see a miracle; I believe the armed men started out of the earth after this manner, from the serpent's teeth that were sown.' The above exclamation is clearly an allusion to the fable in the second book of Ovid's "Metamorphoses;" where Cadmus, by scattering the serpent's teeth on the ground, causes armed men to spring out of it.-H.

1 Walton's notion of scenting his bait is common to many anglers. The oil of ivy, when genuine, is the best; some use assafœtida, and others are loud in praise of cinque-foil. This practice was known to the ancients, as appears from the "Geoponica,' xx., where several recipes are given. Oppian's favourite for river fishing was veal minced and kept in calf's blood for ten days.-Aм. ED. There is great diversity of opinion about the effectiveness of scented baits. Ephemera thinks they do neither good nor harm. We are however aware of more than one positive instance of the effectiveness of the oil of ivy.--ED.

2 The running-line, so called because it runs along the ground, is made of strong silk, which you may buy at the fishing-tackle shops: but I prefer hair, as being less apt to tangle, and is thus fitted up. About ten inches from the end, fasten a small cleft shot; then make a hole through a pistol or musket bullet, according to the swiftness of the stream you fish in; and put the line through it, and draw the bullet down to the shot to the end of your line fasten an Indian grass, or silk-worm-gut, with a large hook: or you may, instead of a bullet, fix four large shot, at the distance of eight inches from the hook. The running-line is used for trout, grayling, and salmon-smelts; and is proper only for streams and rapid waters. See Part ii. chap. xi.—H. Another experienced way is to take two lob-worms: put the first on the hook with the head foremost, and let it slip a little up the line to make room: then put on the second worm with the tail foremost; and draw them close together in a knot. They often drop in this manner from the banks into the river and are snapped up by the Trout.-Browne.