52 



The poet having finished his observations on horses, proceeds to 

 the management of dogs, and, at tlie commencement of this topic, 

 gives a powerfnl description of the influence of love, in the season 

 of spring, on all the animal creation. In mingling the breeds 

 of dogs, the congruity of their nature should be studied. The 

 Arcadian should be mixed with the Elean, the Cretan witli the Pse- 

 onian. But the dog of an unmixed breed is preferred by all hunters ; 

 his form is long and vigorous — his head light — eyes of a spark- 

 ling azure — mouth wide, well armed with teeth — a thin membrane 

 falls over his small ears — neck long — chest broad — fore-legs shorter 

 than the hind ones ,• the tibiae long — shoulders broad — the contex- 

 ture (r«^(r«) of the ribs oblique — loins muscular, not fat— the tail 

 long and slender. Such a dog is best fitted for pursuing the deer 

 and hare ; — but for the attack of the bull, the boar, and the lion, 

 a larger and more ferocious race are required, a race distin- 

 guished by their fiery eye, hirsute covering, broad back, and in- 

 trepid spirit. The white and the grey coloured are of little 

 value, as they are incapable of bearing either heat or cold. 

 Those are superior to all others whose form resembles that of the 

 wolf, the tiger, the fox or the panther, and whose colour is that 

 of wheat. 



In rearing dogs, they should not be s-uckled at the leats which have 

 recently begun to flow, of the goat, the siieep, or domestic bitch, 

 but at the teats of ihe stag, the lioness, or the -wolf. They im- 

 bibe the spirit of their nutriment, and become strong and swift 

 as their nurse. Their names should be short, and care taken to 

 render them social and familiar both with horses and men, and 

 observant of strict silence at the command of their master. 



There are two kinds of tracing — that of men and that of dogs ; 

 the former fiud the game by sight, the latter by the smell. Winter, 



