1 AUGUST 1896, Page 26

By Meadow and Stream. By " The Amateur Angler." (Sampson Low,

Marston, and Co.)—The volume quite justifies its sub-title, "Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Places." Pleasant they must be to the writer; pleasant they certainly are to the reader. The first chapter is new, a very charming account of the author's boyhood, in which he explains, among other things, the sobriquet of "Amateur Angler." He knew about these things in early days, forgot them during a long period of City life, and taking to them again—as he told us in a delightful volume about Dove- dale—had to learn the art afresh, not, he modestly assures us, with great success. The rest of the contents of the book have been already published in the Fishing Gazette. They are well worth collection. Apropos of the amusing discussion about the edibility of the chub—the "Complete Angler" was more willing, it is hinted, to give away a chub than a trout—we venture to make a suggestion founded on experience. The chub is good eating in winter; poor, however skilfully you may cook him, in summer. The reason is that in winter he feeds largely on small fish, a diet which tends to firmness of flesh, as in the pike and perch.