PUG-DOG 



PUGILISM 



485 



species, of which only one, the Common Puffin 

 (F. arctica), a. bird a little larger than a pigeon, 

 frequents the rocky shores of the Atlantic Ocean. 

 It occurs in many parts of England and in Wales, 

 while on the coast and islands of Scotland and 

 Ireland it is often abundant, especially at the 

 breeding season, when the birds congregate in 

 large colonies. The egg, which is of a dull vvhite 

 marked with pale brown or lilac, is laid sometimes 

 in a crevice of a cliff, sometimes in the burrow of 

 a rabbit, or in a cavity made for the purpose. 

 The nestling, which is covered with sooty black 

 down, remains in the nest for three weeks, and is 

 fed on small fishes. The adult birds feed on crns- 

 taceans and other marine animals. On land they 

 waddle rather than walk, but they swim and dive 

 well, and their flight is rapid though seldom high. 

 In various localities the puffin Is popularly called 

 Sea-parrot, Coulterneb, and Tammienorie. In the 

 Pacific the genus is represented by the Horned 

 Puffin (F. corniculata). There also is found the 

 closely allied genus Lnnda, with bright yellow bill. 

 The eggs of the puffin are much sought after, and 

 the flesh of the young birds is used as food. For 

 details aa to the strange moulting and renewal of 

 the bill, see Zoologist (July 1878). 



I'UK-dojJ. This breed of dog is generally sup- 

 posed to have been brought over from Holland, 

 where it is very common. Its origin there is 

 unknown. The pug may be described as a minia- 

 ture bulldog, though he differs in the shape of his 

 ears, which should fall forward like a tenner's, and 

 of his tail, which should cnrl tightly against his 

 quarters. The broad under-jaw and wide skull of 

 the bulldog are rarely seen, but should be present 

 in a perfect specimen. Some years prior to 1860, 

 when the pug was fashionable, Mr Morison of 

 London and Lord Willoughby d'Eresby paid great 

 attention to the breeding of pugs, and founded t u <> 

 distinct strains known as the Morison and Wil- 

 loughby pugs. Large prices were paid for pure 

 specimens of either strain, but when the fashion in 

 ladies' dogs took another direction prices came 

 rapidly down. The two strains have been so often 

 recrossed that it is difficult to obtain a pure speci- 

 men now. The pug is only fit for a house-dog, as 

 he is useless for any active work. Beyond a ten- 

 dency to get very fat he is well fitted for this, as 

 his short, smooth coat is easily cleaned, and he is 

 a handy size. 



Pnget Sound, a large inland sea in the north- 

 west of Washington, U.S., communicating with 

 the Pacific by the Admiralty Inlet and Juan de 

 FUC.I Strait It is divided into several branches, 

 penetrates far into the interior, and is everywhere 

 navigable for the largest vessels, which in most 

 places can ride close to the shores, and load or un- 

 load without wharves. Great quantities of pine 

 and fir are shipped from a country rich in timber. 



Pugilism, or BOXING ( Lat. jmgil, 'a boxer;' 

 compare 'pugnacity,' from pugnug, 'a fist'). 'To 

 box is almost as old as our language itself : no 

 special explanation is required to show what boxing 

 j is ; every one knows that it is fighting real or mimic 

 with the hands alone, all weapons being foreign to 

 the ' science. ' As pugilism, in what has always oeen 

 ite highest standard prize-fighting is now sup- 

 posed to be extinct, it may be of interest to give a 

 brief sketch of its past, when it played a more im- 

 portant part or was thought to do so than it does 

 now in the formation of the national character. 



Although now the taste for it seems quite as 

 firmly implanted in the colonies and in the United 

 States, England has been emphatically the home 

 of pugilism ; and it is certain that in no other 

 country at any time was such a fair, manly, and 

 humane system of combat established as that 



under which the English settled their quarrels, 

 especially after the rules of the prize-ring were 

 issued. These, known now as the ' old rules,' 

 dated from the time of the first recognised champion 

 of England, in whose name they were framed to 

 ensure regularity and fair-play in prize-fights, and, 

 as a necessary consequence, in all others, the P. R. 

 an accepted abbreviation for Prize Ring being 

 the standard authority in such matters, the royal 

 academy of athletics, as it were. This was soon 

 after 1740, and the rules held good for nearly a 

 century ; but in 1838, after a fatal battle, they were 

 revised, entirely in the direction of diminishing the 

 danger of such contests.. At the same time it should 

 be remarked and those unacquainted with the 

 subject may possibly be surprised to learn that 

 fatal results to prize-fights were extremely rare, - 

 and in most instances occurred through what may 

 be termed accidental or secondary causes. lii 

 Broughton's rules 'minute time' was allowed be- 

 tween the rounds each bout of the struggle being 

 called a 'round,' and lasting until one or both of 

 the men were down ; but this was altered in the 

 new rules to half a minute. It was properly 

 decided that if a man could not recover himself 

 sufficiently in that time to face his antagonist he 

 must be so weak or stupefied that further fighting 

 would be dangerous. In Bronghton's time, too, 

 the seconds were allowed to earn 7 their principals 

 to the 'scratch;' this was forbidden by the new 

 rules on the same grounds as the previous altera- 

 tion. The purpose of both sets of rules was to 

 secure fair-play and to foster a kind of rude 

 chivalry, objects not without value when we 

 remember the classes most likely to come under 

 their influence, and the angry quarrels either code 

 was intended to regulate.' No man was to be 

 struck while he was down ; and no man might be 

 struck below the belt the belt in practice being a 

 handkerchief tied tightly round the waist. With 

 prize-boxers these handkerchiefs were the ' colours ' 

 of the men, chosen by themselves and worn by 

 their partisans. Kicking, biting, and the horrible 

 'gouging' once so frequent across the Atlantic, 

 but now happily seldom heard of, owing to the 

 spread of pugilism were all 'foul,' and their 

 practice instantly lost a man the battle. There 

 were two seconds, or, as they were sometimes 

 called, bottle-holders, to each man : their duty was 

 to lift their principal when he fell ; to carry him 

 to his corner always selected by tossing a coin, the 

 winner of the toss naturally choosing the side of 

 the ring which placed him with his back to the 

 sun ; to sponge or sprinkle him with water ; to 

 wipe the perspiration or blood from his face ; and, as 

 their second title implies, to refresh him with sips 

 from the water or brandy bottle. They used also 

 to carry in their jacket pockets a supply of powdered 

 resin, which the boxer would rub on his hands 

 to enable him to clench them tightly when he grew 

 tired ; but this practice was made ' foul ' by the new 

 rules. The 'scratch,' to which allusion has been 

 made, was a mark in the centre of the ring which 

 the combatants had to ' toe,' face to face, before 

 hostilities could commence. It was also an in- 

 dispensable formality for the men and their seconds 

 to shake hands prior to the first round, all six 

 crossing bands to do so, something like one of the 

 figures in the Caledonian quadrilles ; this pre- 

 vented anything like a sudden rush by either of 

 the men upon his unprepared foe. The ' ring ' 

 itself was a square of 24 feet, marked out by four 

 corner and four middle stakes, round which ran 

 two ropes at a height from the ground of 2 and 4 

 feet respectively. 



For many years prize-fighting maintained an 

 enormous popularity, and an existence which, if not 

 actually legal, was scarcely to be distinguished 



