521 



BLOOD-HOUND. 



BLOOD-VESSELS. 



to the unhappy object of it and to the dog : "One of the dogs that 

 had been unmuzzled to drink when there was not the least apprehen- 

 sion of any mischief, went up to an old woman who was sitting attending 

 to a pot in which she was preparing a mesa. The flog srnelled :it it 

 and was troublesome ; thia provoked her ; she took up a stick and 



Chasseur with Cuban Blood-llounds. 



began to beat him, on which he seized on her throat, which he would 

 not let go till his head was severed from his body by his master. The 

 windpipe of the woman being much torn, she could not be saved." 



A dog and a bitch, said to be of the true Cuban Blood-Hound breed, 

 were some years ago brought to this country, where soon after their 

 arrival the bitch littered ten pups, one of them deformed. The figure 

 here given is from one of these pups, which had not attained its full 

 growth. They are shorter on their legs than the English variety ; the. 

 muzzle is shorter, and the animal is altogether smaller, with less of the 

 hound about it than the English Blood-Hound has ; the height is about 



Cuban Blood-IIoiind. 



two feet ; the colour generally tawny, with black about the muzzle, or 

 brindled like some of the Ban-Dogs. They show great attachment, 

 and are very gentle till seriously provoked, and then their ferocity is 

 alarming. 



In Cuba the common employment of these dogs was to traverse the 



country in pursuit of murderers and other felons, and an extraordinary 

 proof of their activity is recorded by Dallas, who states that the event 

 occurred about a mouth before the arrival of the commissioner at the 

 Havanna. A fleet from Jamaica, under convoy to Great Britain, passing 

 through the Gulf of Mexico, beat up on the north side of Cuba. One 

 of the ships, manned with foreigners, chiefly renegado Spaniards, being 

 a dull sailer, and consequently lagging astern, standing in with the land 

 at night, was run on shore, the captain, officers, and the few British 

 hands on board murdered, and the vessel plundered by the Spanish 

 renegadoes. The part of the coast on which the ship was stranded 

 being wild and unfrequented, the assassins retired with their booty to 

 the mountains, intending to penetrate throtigh the woods to some 

 remote settlements on the south side, where they hoped to secure 

 themselves and elude all pursuit. Early intelligence of the crime 

 however had been conveyed to the Havanua, and the assassins were 

 pursued by a detachment of twelve of the Chasseurs del Rey with 

 their dogs. In a few days the criminals were all brought in and 

 executed, not one of them being in the least hurt by the dogs when 

 captured. 



African Blood-Hound. On his return from Africa the late Colonel 

 Denham, then major, presented two dogs and a bitch of this variety 

 to the royal menagerie in the Tower, which, under the care of the 

 keeper, Mr. Cops, then contained a very choice collection of animals, 



African Blood-Uound. 



recorded in that interesting publication ' The Tower Menagerie, 

 London, 8vo, 1829. The Major informed Mr. Cops that with them 

 he hunted the gazelle, and that they displayed great cunning, fre- 

 quently quitting the circuitous line of scent for the purpose of cutting 

 off a double, and recovering the scent again with ease. They would 

 hit off and follow a scent after a lapse of two hours from the time 

 when the animal had been on the spot, and this delicacy of nose had 

 not escaped observation, for they were applied to nearly the same 

 purposes as the other varieties here mentioned, and were commonly 

 employed in Africa to trace a flying enemy to his retreat. It is well 

 remarked in the work last above mentioned that for symmetry and 

 action they were perfect models, and a regret is expressed that in 

 consequence of their not having shown any disposition to perpetuate 

 their race, though they had at the time of making the observation been 

 three years in England, there appeared to be no chance of crossing our 

 pointers with this breed. AVe agree with the writer in thinking that 

 this blood so introduced would be a very valuable acquisition. It was 

 remarked that of the three in the Tower the males were very mild, 

 but the female was of a very savage disposition. 



BLOODSTONE, also called Heliotrope, is a deep green stone a 

 jaspery variety of Quartz. It has obtained its name from being spotted 

 with red so as to resemble drops of blood. In addition to silica it 

 contains oxide of iron and clay, which are mechanically introduced, 

 and in this way the red spots are produced. lu the royal collection 

 at Paris there is a bust of Christ in this stone, so managed that the 

 red spots represent drops of blood. (Dana, Mineralogy.) 



BLOOD-VESSELS. The blood from which the tissues of the body 

 obtain the material of their nourishment is conveyed from one part 

 of the body to another by means of branched tubes which are named 

 Blood- Vessels. It is carried along these vessels by the impulse given 

 by the action of the Heart. [HEART.] The vessels which crry the 

 blood from the heart are called Arteries. [ARTERY.] Those which 

 return the blood to the heart are named Veins. [VEIN.] Whilst a 

 very generally diffused network of Blood- Vessels exist, connecting the 

 arteries and veins, which are called Capillaries. [CAPILLARY VESSELS.] 



The Blood-Vessels, whatever may be their ultimate destination, seem 

 to originate in the same manner. Observations on this subject have 

 been made by Schwann and Kiilliker in Germany, and by Professor 

 Paget in this country. The observations of the two former were made 



