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STAGHOUND.—Canis ramiliaris. 
boldly at the nearest foe, whether man or Dog, and often inflicting by the stroke of its 
sharp antlers a mortal wound upon any Dog that may be within its reach. Some degree 
of cunning is also requisite, so that the Dog may not rush blindly upon its fate, but may 
craftily watch its opportunity, and seize its quarry without suffering for its boldness. 
When the country was more open, and less broken up into fields and enclosures than is 
the case at the present, stag-hunting was a comparatively easy task, but in the present day, 
when a free Englishman can hardly walk half-a-mile without being checked by a wall or 
fence, or a warning notice, the stag has so much the advantage of the hounds and 
horses that the chase has gradually sunk into comparative disuse. With one or two 
exceptions, the royal Staghounds are now almost the only representatives of this once 
popular and exciting sport. 
OF ALL the Dogs which are known by the common title of “hound,” the Fox- 
HOUND is the best known. There are few animals which have received more attention 
than the Foxhound, and none perhaps which have so entirely fulfilled the wishes of its 
teachers. A well-known sporting author, who writes under the nom de plume of “Stone- 
henge,” remarks, with pardonable enthusiasm, that “the modern Foxhound is one of the 
most wonderful animals in creation.’ The efforts which have been made, and the sums 
which have been spent, in the endeavour to make this animal as perfect as possible, are 
scarcely credible. 
Without in the least disparaging any efforts to improve the nature and the character 
of any animal, we cannot but draw a sad comparison between the unwearying pains that 
are bestowed upon the condition of the Foxhound, and the neglected state of many a 
human being in the vicinity of the palatial dog-kennel and the magnificent stables. At 
one establishment, eight or ten thousand pounds per annum have been expended upon 
the Dogs and horses, and this for a series of many years. As might be expected, the 
command of such enormous sums of money, backed by great judgment on the parts of the 
owners and trainers of hounds, has produced a race of Dogs that for speed, endurance, 
