Of the special senses of fishes, in relation to the art of angling. No. 1. Vision : a paper read before The Gresham Angling Society / by John Brunton ; J. Theodore Cash in the chair.

  • Brunton, John.
Date:
[1882]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Of the special senses of fishes, in relation to the art of angling. No. 1. Vision : a paper read before The Gresham Angling Society / by John Brunton ; J. Theodore Cash in the chair. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    “ his walks abroad ” and, rod in hand, either rambling by the lovely meadows of the then silvery Lea or meditating by the rocky valley of the winding Dove, forgot not his innate pleasure of angling, nor thought “ his idle time idly spent,” because he found “ Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks. Sermons in stones, and good in everything.” While thus “ providing his store ” of observations, facts, and fancies, which make his “ Compleat Angler ” so very interesting, amusing, and good,—John Bunyan, the author of my text, was cooped up in prison meditating also. Although deprived of the associa- tions of those external worldly beauties which enliven man’s mind and cheer his soul, his thoughts came from his inner consciousness fully charged with its memories of the past. Though not writing for the recreation so much as the good of his fellow creatures, his books have been the pleasure and pastime, as well as for the advantage, of many a youth. In his “ Holy War,” which was published about the time Charles Cotton produced his treatise on “ Fly Fishing,” you will find the following passage, which I have chosen as my text:— “The famous town of Mansoul had five gates in at which to come and out at which to go, and these were made likewise answerable to the walls—to wit, impregnable, and such as could never be opened or forced but by the will of those within. The names of the gates were these : Eye-gate, Ear-gate, Mouth-gate, Nose-gate, and Feel-gate.”